Nami? What's Love?
by Mr. 0-San
Summary: After Nami's sister dies, Nami and Luffy start to discover feelings for each other. But how can an idiot like Luffy understand something like "Love?" All of these emotions escalate once they visit a strange unnamed island inhabited by a different kind of enemy... LuNa of course! THANKS FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK!
1. The Weird Feeling

**HI THERE YA'LL AWESOME PEOPLES! *confetti* *sparkles* THANK YA ALL FOR OPENING UP THIS FIC! LuNa WOOT!**

**This is my FIRST pairing/love piece of writing I have EVER done in my whole life...(yeah...I know...Pathetic...D:) So SORRIES if I bomb this! (OPTIMISM FTW)**

**So...Yeah...WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE? READ ON!**

* * *

Nami didn't know whether it was the rain or the tears dripping down her chin now...Genzo and the others had left long ago, but she was still there, staring at her sister's grave.

She had heard that it happened so suddenly too. She had been found dead in the middle of a field with a snake bite on her chin. Dr. Nako explained it was from the _Orange Serpuuntas,_ the most poisonous snake in the East Blue. Nojiko...dead from a stupid little snake. How cruel life could be sometimes.

The Strawhats were watching her from afar. Luffy had instructed the others that they didn't have the right to mourn with her, and Nami was grateful for that. She was grateful for Luffy. He was the one who said flat-out that they should return to the village, even though it put a large delay on their adventure. She knew he understood. Nami after thinking about her crew, she sniffed, wiped the tears/rain from her eyes, and grasped her bracelet. She thought for a moment, then let go. She would keep it, to remind her of Nojiko. She turned around, took a deep breath, and started toward the crew.

**EIGHT DAYS LATER**

They had just passed Lougetown again, Nami felt horrible that she had caused her crew to retrace their steps because of her, but the optimistic crew, when told how sorry she felt, just laughed and patted her on the shoulder.

"No worries Nami!"

"Don't feel bad! It lets the new members see all the stuff they missed!"

"I FORGIVE YOU NAMI-SWAAAANNN!"

Nami smiled at these words and decided that her friends honestly didn't mind starting over.

After a day or two, her guilt had subsided, but one thing remained. The sadness. Night was the worst. She couldn't go to sleep as her dreams were filled with memories.

_"Nami! Did you steal ANOTHER book from the library?"_

It was in these moments that she couldn't bear to be alone... After ten days, she finally snapped.

Nami softly creeped down the under deck toward the men's room, and peeked the door open. In there, all the boys were sleeping in odd, strangely disfigured shapes. She stopped in the doorway. Who would she ask to accompany her? Sanji would just suck up to her and agree to everything she said. She would've chuckled if she wasn't feeling so lonely. She counted down the other options. Brook was too loud, Zoro was too uncompassionate, Chopper would just cry with her, Usopp would be Usopp, and Franky was too uncomfortable to be around. She thought about Robin for a moment, but decided she would be too "to the point" The last option was...Luffy.

Nami tip-toed to Luffy's hammock, which had a snoring, half-falling-off-the-darn-thing Luffy with a bubble protruding out his nose. She started shaking him softly.

"Oi...Luffy? Oi?"

One of Luffy's eyes peeked open sleepily.

"Aa, Nami...Why'd you make the iguana disappear?" And he fell back asleep with a snore. Nami facepalmed and shook him harder.

"What? Luffy, please get up you moron!"

Both his eyes opened now and he looked at Nami quizzically.

"Eh? What's wrong Nami? Bad guys!?" He jumped up noisily, causing the others to stir.

"Shh! No! Be quiet would ya?"

Luffy pouted.

"Then what's up?"

Nami pursed her lips and spoke in a hushed whisper.

"Luffy...Would you...would you..." She swallowed. "I'm feeling sad...and lonely..."

That's all Nami needed to say. Luffy nodded and followed Nami out of the men's room.

Once the two pirates entered her room, Nami pulled up a chair for Luffy. He plopped on it and Nami sat opposite from him on the bed.

"Oi, Nami...It's Ok.."

Just these simple words made Nami burst into tears. The memories came flooding back all at once. Her and Nojiko picking Tangerines, playing in the field when they were really little, she couldn't stop. Luffy looked at her sympathetically, losing all the idiot within him.

"I...miss her Luffy..." Nami choked. "I really do.."

Luffy still just sat there.

"What's gone is gone, Nami...Ask yourself what still remains."

Nami then realized something...Luffy... She glanced up at him and saw he was trying not to cry, to act tough while his nakama was going through a hard time.

"You still miss Ace...don't you?"

Luffy looked down forcefully and swallowed.

"This has nothing to do with me Nami...It's YOUR sister... I had plenty of time to recover from..." He didn't finish the sentence. "It's just...I know how you feel..."

Nami nodded, flattered by the fact that he wanted to help her so much. Seeing her captain so...compassionate...She looked away suddenly.

"I-I" She closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Luffy jolted his head up in surprise, then, without warning, hugged her. Nami's eyes widened in surprise, then she hugged back. They stayed that way for awhile, both silently crying over their lost siblings.

After they broke away from the hug, Nami felt immensely better. She smiled softly.

"Oi...Nami?"

"Huh?"

Luffy grinned at her in his oh-so-familiar way...

"Tomorrow you can have some of my meat, if that will make you feel better!"

Nami laughed.

"That's very sweet of you! But I think you should have it."

Luffy seemed relived that he didn't have to give up his precious meat.

"Alright! I'm good with that!"

Luffy was about to walk out of the room when he heard Nami again.

"Wait...don't go.."

Luffy turned around and cocked his head; a question mark popped out of his head.

"Eh?"

Nami cradled herself on her bed, very unlike her.

"Can-Can you stay here for a little bit?"

Luffy grinned once again, then sharply nodded his head.

"Aa! Anything for you Nami!"

He walked into the room again, only, instead of sitting on the chair, he sat next to Nami. They sat there in silence for a while.

"Are you gonna say anything?"

Nami sighed.

"I guess I'm just content with you just being here...It's nice."

Luffy suddenly hopped of the bed and started jumping around manically.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Entertaining you!" Luffy remarked as he struck a "Franky" pose.

"SUUUUPPPPEEEER!" He yelled, finishing his Franky impression. Nami hit him over the head comically.

"Shut up, dumbass! Everyone will wake up!"

Luffy pouted on the floor, and Nami then regretted hitting him. Funny, he had done it so many times, why was she feeling bad about it now?

"Sorry Lu-"

Luffy eyes popped out of his sockets in shock.

"EHHH! NAMI SAID SORRY?!"

Nami covered his mouth, him squirming around.

"What part of "Be quiet" don't you understand?!"

After they ragged on each other for a while, Luffy asked.

"How long do you need me here, Nami?"

Nami looked down.

"Maybe the whole night..."

"Ok doke!" Luffy remarked and he grabbed a pillow from Nami's bed and laid it on the floor. He flopped on it and fell asleep.

"ALREADY?!" Nami shouted.

"Shishishi! Just kidding Nami!" He put his arms behind his head. "I won't go to sleep till you do, just in case you feel sad again!"

Nami paused. She knew he was just being a good friend...but he was just so...kind. Nami knew that he was kind, but it affected her differently this time for some strange reason. She fidgeted nervously.

"Nami?"

Nami perked up and glanced at him.

"Yeah?"

Luffy grinned.

" I like when you're happy Nami! It's nice."

Nami blushed, then tried to hide it. What the hell was going on? Why was she acting so weird? She shook her head and coughed.

"Oi...You Ok?"

Before she could even answer Luffy stood up to give her another friendly hug. Nami was so surprised by this one, she just stayed still in shock. This one seemed different. She noticed how strong yet gentle his grip was, and how soft his rubbery arms were. Once he broke away again, Nami was staring at the floor, her mouth agape. Both of them sat in silence.

"Oi...Nami?"

Nami still stared at the floor.

"Huh?"

"What's this really weird feeling I'm feeling?"

Nami looked up at Luffy and realized that his cheeks were a bright scarlet. She gawked at him for a moment. Could this idiot really be...?

"I feel weird...Am I sick? Do I need Chopper?!"

Luffy was panicking now, as though it was really freaking him out. Nami

thought for a moment, then placed her hand on his shoulder. She could see his blush growing redder.

"No, you're fine Luffy." Was all she said. "Just-Just get some rest. It'll go away tomorrow."

Luffy sighed in relief, his cheeks still red.

"O-ok Nami...It'll be gone tomorrow..."

Nami nodded, took her hand off his shoulder, and laid in bed. Luffy clumsily laid himself down on his pillow, and waited to hear Nami snore before going to sleep.

**Is it bad that I just squeed at the end? No? Ok...**

**Man! I gotta make these more often! They're so fun to write! :3**

**Next chappie coming soon!**


	2. Snipes?

**Another one! Let's see how badly Luffy screws up the whole "Romance" thing! XD**

"Oi! Luffy! Get up quick!"

Luffy didn't have to be told twice. He jumped to his feet and was about to run out to the now bright deck when someone grabbed him by the collar.

"What are you doing?!"

Luffy turned around and was surprised to see Nami there.

"What? Aren't there marines or bad guys?"

Nami let go of his shirt and facepalmed.

"No, you idiot! I was just telling you to get up quick so nobody sees you in here!"

A question mark popped out of his head.

"Eh? Why's that bad?"

"Nevermind, nothing...Sanji's cooking breakfa-"

Before Nami finished her sentence Luffy was already out of the room. Nami chuckled.

"That idiot's back to his old self."

**THREE HOURS LATER**

"Luffy! Any threes?"

"Go fish! Usopp! Any threes?"

"I JUST ASKED THAT YOU FOOL!"

Usopp was fighting over Luffy's cards while Chopper giggled and put down all his cards.

"Do I win? Is that how you play?"

Luffy and Usopp stared at Chopper for a moment, then started chasing him around the Sunny, Chopper screaming hysterically. This went on for a while until Nami walked out on the deck. Luffy stopped mid-step and looked at her...cheeks starting to redden.

"Awww crap! That weird feeling isn't gone yet!" He thought to himself before rubbing his now-sweaty hands on his shirt. Why was he so sweaty? Nami said it was fine though... Luffy sighed and sat down cross-legged on the deck, fascinated by a beetle.

Nami had seen Luffy. She almost laughed. He could be really cute if he wanted to! She smiled and sat down on a chair, reading her newest book, _All You Need to Learn About Romance._ She thought that maybe if she knew how Luffy was feeling, she might be able to help him get over his "weird feeling" or whatever. Nami laughed again and started reading.

The night came again, and once again...Nami could not be alone. This time, Luffy expected her to come, and was already out when she appeared in the door.

"Hi Nami!" He said as he sprawled on Nami's floor stupidly. Nami sat on the bed again, chuckling at his stupidness.

"So! Are you sad again?"

Nami smiled and blushed a little, hiding it, and replying,

"Not anymore, still, I like when you're here."

Luffy grinned wide, then sat up straight holding his feet.

"I'm glad that you're feeling better!" He frowned. "I don't like it when you're sad..."

Nami blushed softly and hid her face in her hands. Luffy cocked his head.

"Nami? Are you having the weird thingy too?"

Nami peeked at Luffy from underneeth her hands. He was sitting there, feet touching each other , with a cute, pouty expression on his face. Normally she would have thought he looked kiddish, but now...it seemed cute. She smiled into her hands.

"What's wrong?"

Nami shook her head and rubbed her neck, still feeling hot around the cheeks.

"I-I guess I have the "Weird thingy" too!"

Luffy stared up at her for a moment, then stood up and walked to the bed. He plopped down next to Nami and put his arm around her. Nami's eyes widened in surprise.

"L-Luffy?"

"GAH!" Luffy pulled his arm away. "Sorry! Was that not the right thing to do? Did I hurt you? I'M CONFUSED!"

Nami almost had to laugh as Luffy was looking this way and that, unsure if he made her sad or scared for some reason. She scooted closer to him and put her arm around him this time. This made Luffy stop mid-panic and just stare at the ground oddly. They sat there for a minute, before Nami rested her head on his shoulder. Luffy noticed the weird feeling was even more pronounced than before.

"Luffy?"

"Huh? What? Am I doing something?"

Nami laughed.

"No! You're doing perfectly fine!"

Luffy sighed.

"Ok...I don't want you to feel weird like me..."

Nami frowned a little.

"Luffy...I hate to ask you this...but..." She scooted closer. "Can you maybe...tell me some stories from your childhood?"

Luffy froze. He grew quiet, leaving the question unanswered.

"Luffy?"

Luffy swallowed nervously.

"Why?"

Nami realized he had just made him solemn and mournful for his brother, but she had a plan.

"Just because...It would make me feel less sad."

Luffy sat there, still sitting awkwardly with Nami's head on his shoulder.

"Ok...If it makes you feel better.." Luffy thought about some memories, but one seemed to jump out at him right away.

"Um...Once when I was nine and Ace was twelve, we decided to go hunting for these weird animals called "Snipes."

"Snipes?" Nami asked compassionately.

"Aa...Oji-san told us about them, so we headed out to look for 'em. But we looked and looked everywhere, and we couldn't find anything."

"Maybe they were scared of you guys?" 

"I dunno...They were somewhere in a mystery-place that even Ace couldn't find...So we headed back to Dadan's. On our way back, a HUGE bird-thingy stopped in front of us!" Luffy was becoming exited now.

"A bird-thingy?"

"Yeah! It was as big as that big ol' tiger that we beat the crap out of! But this bird didn't attack us. Ace and I walked up to it and jumped on it's back!" He started laughing. "Shishishi! It started trying to buck us off, but we were too strong!"

Nami was laughing along with him. "Of course you were!"

"Finally we got bored and headed back, but when we told Oji-san that we found the Snipe, he sure was surprised!"

After Luffy finished his story, he grew silent. Nami lifted her head and saw that Luffy was...crying.

Oi...Luffy?" 

Luffy pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he was trying to stop crying due to looking weak, but he couldn't stop. Nami stared at him in sympathy, then hugged him, holding his head to her shoulder. They stayed that way for awhile, then Luffy broke off, trying to act like he wasn't just crying.

"You guys were close, weren't you?"

Luffy nodded sharply. Nami hated seeing him like this; It didn't seem right to her.

"Luffy...Would...would you like a midnight snack? Would that cheer you up?"

He nodded again. Nami smiled and slowly sneaked to the kitchen and back, bringing a plate full of leftovers. She set them on his lap, and put her arm around him again. Luffy nibbled on his snack contently, slowly regaining his normal attitude. Once he was done he looked at Nami weirdly.

"What are you doing?"

Nami giggled very unlike her and took her arm off.

"Nothing..."

Nami seemed to understand finally why she was feeling so odd around Luffy. She liked him. After reading the beginning to that book, she wasn't embarrassed by it anymore. The only problem was...she looked up at Luffy, picking his nose...she sighed. He was still a complete idiot. That would never change.

"I'm getting sleepy Nami..."

Luffy was rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"No problem. Get some sleep Captain."

Luffy planted face-first on the floor, already fast asleep. Nami sweatdropped. She was about to crawl into bed when she looked back at him. God...that looked uncomfortable... Nami sighed, took off a pillow from her bed, and pulled herself off the bed. She tip-toed toward him and rolled him over on his back. Nami stopped to look at him. He still had a huge grin on his face that seemed to be growing bigger with each snore. She chuckled and carefully set the pillow under his head, then tucked him as best she could with a spare blanket on a floor. Satisfied, she crawled back on the bed and fell asleep to the steady sound of his breathing.

** SOME TIME LATER (In which I mean "The next Day")**

"EVERYONE! I SEE AN ISLAND!"

Usopp and Luffy stopped playing tic-tac-toe and sprinted up to the railing.

"WOAH!" They both shouted in unison.

Luffy was sparkling in awe and the others were gazing at the magical sight before them.

It was a HUGE island, so big they could barely see it all. Large animals of all different species flew around with fluffy blue wings, perching on the tall sparkling waterfall in the exact middle of the land. There were few trees, so they could make out a small village next to the waterfall. It was such a wonderful looking place that even Zoro smiled a bit. Franky was sobbing comically by the sight of it.

"Oi..oi...Why are you crying?"

"I-I'M NOT CRYING! *blows nose* IDIOT!"

"I CAN SEE YOU YA KNOW!"

Luffy put his hands on his hips in a superhero-esque way and pointed his finger in the sky.

"YOSH! LET'S GO TO THE MYSTERY-ISLAND!"

"AYE!" Everyone shouted. Nami smiled at Luffy from the top of the mast. He looked up and grinned back, waving.

"What do we do now Miss Navigator?!" Shouted Robin and Franky from the bow. Nami turned toward the island.

"Sail straight ahead! We're on course!

So, with high spirits, the Sunny sailed toward the seemingly harmless island...

…..When a large cannonball came flying into the the mast.

**NOOOOO! *bangs head against table* CLIFFHANGERS! I'M SORRY!**

** Anyway, I'm sorry if you guys didn't like this chapter...Feel free to post reviews on maybe something you want in here or whatever, I want you guys to keep reading! *sparkles* :)**

** NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON!**


	3. The Falling of the Mast!

**ALRIGHT! Sorry for the wait but. *sniffle* life happens...**

* * *

** THANKS FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR REVIEWS AND FOLLOWS! I APPRECIATE THEM SO MUCH! I read every comment, so...REVIEW WHATEVER YA WANT! I want you to keep reading! :)**

Eight heads whipped around and gasped at the explosion. The cannonball had hit the mast with amazing accuracy, causing the mast to break in half and crash onto the deck.

"NAMI!"

Luffy, now desperately worried about his navigator, yelled to the others.

"YOU GUYS! FIND OUT WHERE THE BAD-GUYS ARE! I'LL TAKE CARE OF NAMI!"

"ROGER!"

All the others searched in the direction of where the cannon had fired, except for Franky who was gaping at the outrageous damage done to his ship in such a small amount of time.

"Sunny..."

Luffy was at the now broken and shattered mast digging through the rubble. No sign of Nami.

"LUFFY! MORE CANNONBALLS ARE COMING!"

Luffy shot up and jumped up at the sound of another explosion on the side of the ship. How could they shoot it so accurate?!

"FRANKY!"

"ON IT CAPTAIN!"

Franky pointed his fist at the cannonballs headed toward them.

"FRANKY RADICAL BEAM!" He shouted as the beam shot into the sky, exploding the balls before they could reach sunny.

Zoro and the others also held off quite a few of the cannonballs, but they were coming at such a fast pace that many of them still hit the ship.

"LUFFY! WE CAN DO A _COUP DE VENT_ TO ENTER THE ISLAND!"

"HOLD ON!"

Luffy stared at Franky.

"IF WE DO THAT THE MAST MIGHT CRUSH HER!"

Luffy motion toward the largest part of the broken mast, there was a little room for someone to lay under it. Franky nodded.

"Aye!"

Zoro, Sanji, and Franky ran over to help Luffy with lifting the mast. The ship was shaking from the impact of the cannons. Brook fell overboard.

"BROOK!" Chopper jumped in after him.

"YOU IDIOT!" Usopp jumped in after them.

"THERE SHE IS!"

Luffy let go of the mast and crawled under it, digging through some more rubble until he found her. She was unconscious and bleeding a tiny bit, but Luffy was instantly relived. Suddenly, a cannon hit the lion's head, causing the boat to shake so violently that Zoro, Sanji, and Franky dropped the mast on Luffy and Nami.

"DAMMIT!" Zoro yelled.

But they saw something. The mast was still lifted. They peeked in and saw Luffy holding it up, struggling and yelling at them.

"GET NAMI! *pant pant* PULL HER OUT!"

"AYE!"

Robin sprouted hands from under the mast and carried Nami to her. Luffy was still holding the mast up, unsure of what to do, though he was quickly losing his strength.

"LUFFY!" Franky grabbed him and yanked him out from under it. The mast came crashing back down, narrowly missing them. Luffy lay down on the deck panting for a moment.

"THE SUNNY-GO IS SINKING!"

Luffy heard this and quickly shouted to Franky from the ground.

"GO AHEAD FRANKY!"

Franky nodded and readied.

"COUP...DE...VENT!"

Sunny then went catapulting into the air. They screamed in comical fear for a second, before they crashed back down to earth next to the waterfall in a harsh landing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They landed side-ways on the Sunny, spilling out onto the grass. They all laid on the ground for some time, catching their breath.

"Wha-"

"How-"

"Huh?"

"Even I...The great Usopp, can't shoot THAT accurate from that far away!"

Franky was the first up. He gazed in horror at the utterly destroyed Sunny. Everyone else stared at it too.

"Can you fix him?"

Franky nodded.

"Yeah, but that's pretty bad. It might take a while to fix."

Chopper was sitting in the grass, treating Nami. Luffy tore himself from the Sunny and headed toward them.

"Chopper. Is she alright?"

"Aa. She just was hit in the head a little. Nothing bad."

Luffy grinned in relief and kneeled next to her, poking her.

"Oi! Oi! Oi! Nami! Oi! Nami! Na-"

"STOP POKING HER!"

Luffy laughed and sat cross-legged next to them. Chopper sighed.

"Why do you want to stay here? Isn't it boring?"

Luffy rubbed his hair under his hat.

"Eh...I'm fine. Go treat the others. I think Usopp got a burn or two."

Chopper made a scared face and ran over to Usopp with a bandage in one hand and a thermometer in the other.

"I'LL SAVE YA USOPP!"

Luffy grinned.

"Shishishi! Things are getting interesting now! Aren't they Nami?"

He looked at her and pouted.

"Oh, yeah...You can't talk."

A pause. He glanced at the bandages on her head and frowned. Then he pet her head awkwardly.

"I'm sorry that you got hurt. I'll try to do better next time."

"OI LUFFY!"

"Eh?" He stood up and glanced at Sanji.

"We have a problem."

Luffy became serious and followed Sanji to where the others were sitting.

"When all the chaos was going on we realized who was shooting at us."

Luffy raised his eyebrows.

"Who?"

Zoro sighed heavily.

"Some animals..."

"WHAAAAT?"

Luffy and Franky both made weird faces.

"Yeah. They were animals, but human almost. Kinda like that weird bear thing that's on that one guy's crew.."

"Who? Traff-guy?"

"Yeah...BMO or whatever..."

"Beedo?"

No...I think it was Bidow."

"Bepo?"

"Naw...Bepo doesn't sound right..."

"It was Bepo."

"Whatever...They were walking, talking animals!"

"LIKE ME!"

"Stay out of this Chopper..."

Everyone just sat there in silence for a moment. Before they heard footsteps.

"Ah! Miss Navigator! You're awake!"

Nami stood next to them and rubbed her head.

"Tch...What the hell was that for? Those jerks..."

"Hi Nami! They were talking animals like Traffy's Bidow-thingy!"

Nami made a quizzical look at Luffy.

"...What?"

"Trafoa's bear-guy."

"Oh...you mean Bepo?"

"I TOLD YOU MARIMO!"

"SHUT UP CURLY-BROW!"

Nami smiled at Luffy and they both laughed.

"Well...I guess we sleep outside today, huh?"

Nami remarked after seeing the Sunny. Luffy fist-pumped.

"YEAH! CAMPING!"

Nami giggled and rubbed her head again, only this time in shyness.

"Yeah..Camping...whoo!"

Luffy clapped his hand on Nami's shoulder and looked at her right in the eyes, smiling.

"I'm glad you're alright."

Nami blinked.

"You too..."

He grinned and went running after Usopp, apparently playing a game of tag. Nami chuckled and looked around her. The forest was nice...and big...and green. This was a wonderful island, as long as they didn't run into the animal-people again. She headed toward the Sunny to get her chair and her book. It would be nice to rest for a while, we all kinda needed it.

* * *

** Animals like Bepo? Huh!? *strokes beard that I apparently have***

** Also, I did use several refrences in the "Bepo" Convo...HAPPY READING...AGAIN!**


	4. Moments Shared by a Waterfall

**Sorry for the lack of romance last chapter! I hope I make up for it in this chappie! (No spoilers intended) **

**So far in this story, I've decided to refrain from the "Lemon" due to how the story is moving along and I have had quite a few reviews saying that "Innocence is the best" which I agree with...But if I get death threats and/or overwhelming feedback...I may still not do it...:P So yeah... ENJOY!**

* * *

That night Luffy couldn't sleep. Nami hadn't come for him that night, so he just decided to set up his "bed" on the top of a tall tree next to the waterfall. It calmed him. It vaguely reminded him of his childhood hideout, and it was also dangerous, so that was a bonus. Oddly enough though, the sleep-bubble wouldn't come, so he just lay there on the branch listening to the sounds of the nature. Suddenly, he heard a splash.

"Huh?"

He slid down the tree and peeked from behind it. He noticed someone in the waterfall, apparently sitting off the edge next to the spring under it.

"Nami?"

It was indeed Nami. He hesitated, feeling weird once again, but slowly stepped toward her.

"Hi Luffy."

Luffy stopped mid-step, surprised. He then coughed and put his hands behind his back shyly.

"How'd you know I was here?"

She turned her head toward him and stuck out her tongue.

"Bleh! Instinct!"

Luffy grinned and sat next to Nami timidly. Nami unexpectedly pulled him closer and cuddled on his shoulder. They both stared at the beautiful scenery for a minute before Luffy sighed.

"I'm kinda bored..."

Nami rolled her eyes.

"Jeez...there can't be one silent minute with you can't there?"

Luffy pouted and tugged on his hat.

"Oi, Nami?"

"Aa?"

"Why have you been getting so close to me lately?"

Nami giggled and placed her hand in his lap. Luffy seemed unaware of this.

"Because you're an idiot and you don't care if I do or not."

Luffy looked at Nami's head resting on his shoulder. He blushed heavily.

"The weird feeling hasn't gone yet Nami." He rubbed his head. "You said it would be gone soon. What is it?"

Nami lifted her head and turned herself around so she was facing Luffy. Luffy cocked his head and turned too so they were facing each other. Nami smiled and leaned close to him.

"It's called Love Luffy..."

A question mark popped out of his head.

"Love?"

Nami giggled again, unlike her. She was about 3 inches away from Luffy. He seemed nervous.

"Oi, why are you so close to me?"

Just then Nami leaned in and very gently connected her lips with his. Luffy's widened in surprise and he just sat there, utterly lost at what the heck was happening. Nami let go and laughed loudly.

"What was that?!" Asked Luffy, still lost. Nami facepalmed, blushing under her hand.

"That was a kiss Luffy..." Was all she said. Luffy smiled softly.

"Did it make you feel good?"

Nami looked up at Luffy's kind expression and smiled back.

"Yes...very..."

"Me too..."

Nami raised her eyebrows.

"Huh?"

Luffy sat there silent for a moment. Nami grinned and leaned in again. A seagull flew overhead as the Navigator and her Captain shared a long and innocent kiss in the moonlight.

After a few minutes Nami disconnected and gazed at Luffy. He did the same.

"Luffy?"

"Hmm?"

"I-I..." She couldn't think of anything to say. She usually settled this problem with hitting someone and yelling, but she didn't. She just sat there unsure of how to handle this unfamiliar feeling. Luffy thought for a moment, then slowly took off his hat and placed it gently on Nami's head. She stared at him in surprise. He just grinned his horrifyingly giant grin and walked toward the tree.

"Wait! Luffy!"

He bent over backwards to look at her, making him look rather idiotic.

"What?"

She was too flustered to even groan or laugh at the stupid gesture. She stood up slowly.

"I'm afraid to sleep in this place...What if one of those cannon-animals sneaks up on me and kills me? Or worse, steal my Beli?"

Luffy turned around and tapped at his head, signifying his hat.

"The hat will protect you, Nami." He laughed. Nami patted the hat.

"I'm trusting you hat!" She laughed along with him. Luffy started clambering up the tree until Nami couldn't see him anymore.

Nami took the hat off her head and stared at it. How many memories does this simple, ratty straw hat hold?

_"Don't touch my hat! It's my treasure!"_

She quickly shuffled through her mind.

_ Alabasta, Skypiea, Water 7, Enies Lobby, Thriller Bark, Sabaody Archipelego, Fishman Island,_

_All the other thousands of islands they've been through..._

That silly old hat had always been there, shoved on his head every second. That hat knew more about Luffy than anyone else; it was his treasure, and Luffy trusted her with it. She teared up at this.

_ God, I'm out of character..._

She didn't care that she probably looked like a foolish young girl. She cared for him. She wanted to do something special for him like he had done for her hundreds of times over. She looked back at the ratted hat. It was falling apart from all of the scratches and scrapes it had gained.

She plopped down, took out her needle and thread, and went to work.

**XXXXXXXXX**

"YO! EVERYONE! WAKE UP YA LAZY BUMS!"

Usopp and Franky were shouting at Luffy from under the tree while Sanji was gently waking Nami by shouting "NAMI-SWAAAAAAAAAAN!" in her eardrum. Luffy fell out of the tree screaming and Nami hit Sanji over the head with twice as much force than before.

"YOU BASTARDS!" They both yelled at the waker-uppers in unison. Luffy sniffed, then whirled into a hurricane that made it's way over to the table with food on it. Sanji was staring at Nami's lap.

"Is that Luffy's hat?"

Nami nodded. Sanji lit a cigarette, smiling.

"It looks amazing Nami-San."

After Luffy and gobbled all the food, and scared Chopper by pretending to be hurt, everyone motioned for Nami to unveil to him his present. Sanji was too touched by how cute she was to wonder why or how she got the hat, and everyone else didn't care. Nami walked toward Luffy, and shoved the hat on his head. Luffy raised his eyebrows, then took it off and stared at it.

"My hat?" He breathed in obvious wonder.

Nami had worked all night; she replaced the faded ribbon, smoothed the prickly brim, and sewed all of the holes so tight that they were unnoticable. It looked brand-new, yet it kept it's character as a worn, adventurous hat, which was an amazing feat. She had done something else too.

Luffy looked at his new string. It was made from his old ribbon, but it was twisted in a unique pattern. Luffy gazed at his hat for a long time before he suddenly hugged Nami. Everyone stared in comic shock, except for Robin who just chuckled. Luffy broke off and grinned hugely.

"This is amazing Nami! Thank you so much!" He pulled the hat over his head, still grinning. "It feels just like new! But the same!"

Nami smiled and wagged her finger at him.

"Now don't go and mess it up again anytime soon alright?"

Nami seemed to remember that the others were there too. They all were watching with soft smiles, knowing how much the hat meant to their captain.

"NAMI-SWAN! YOU'RE SO CUTE WHEN YOU'RE GENEROUS!"

"That was a nice thing you did there, Miss Navigator."

"My heart is filling up with glee...Ah! But I don't have a heart! Yohohohohoho!"

Nami laughed and walked toward them, leaving Luffy to his hat. Zoro had switched topics.

"Alright...Today we need to find those animal-men..."

"BWHAHAHAHA! Zoro's talking about finding something!"

"SHUT UP NOSEBLEED!"

"I agree with Zoro." Remarked Nami.

"Same here..." Added Robin.

"OI! LUFFY!" Shouted Franky. "WE NEED TO FIND THE PEOPLE WHO HURT THE SUNNY-GO!"

"AA!" Shouted back Luffy, who put on his new-and-improved hat and headed toward them. Luffy smirked, hit his fist to his palm, and announced,

"Today's the day we kick some animal ass!"

**God, I hope I did OK! Please review with your thoughts! It really helps...especially since I've never written a romance before so...**

**THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT! :)**


	5. Affection and Animal-Men

**Yay! Another chapter! **

**Thanks again for all the feedback! Remember, I read EVERY review, so if you have anything that you want me to change or whatever to make this story better, POST IT!**

**Also I was wearing my strawhat while writing this so...*thumbs up* I'm getting in the mood!**

* * *

"Alright!" Nami shouted out. "If we're going to find these animal-bastards, we need to split up!"

Everyone looked at each other.

"Alrighty."

"Fine with me.."

"Sounds good."

Nami glanced toward Luffy, who was spinning his now-pretty hat on his finger.

"Luffy can chose..."

Luffy looked up and instantly said, "Me and Nami."

Everyone raised their eyebrows at his very quick remark, and Sanji was more than disappointed.

"But Nami-Swan needs me!"

"Then you can go with Robin." Luffy replied tortly. Sanji started swooning over Robin, while Nami blushed a little over Luffy's wanting to be with her. You didn't have to be a mind-reader to tell that Luffy was in his determined-mode. He placed the hat back on his head.

"You guys can decide the rest."

Usopp immediately went toward Zoro, who was less than thrilled to be paired with him. Brook went with Sanji and Robin, while Franky and Chopper found themselves paired. Robin was the only one who observed Luffy and Nami, and she chuckled a little bit.

"I wonder..."

Once everyone went in seperate directions into the hills. Luffy started rushing forward to find the animal-men. Nami facepalmed and ran after him.

"Oi! Luffy! Go slower would ya?"

Luffy halted quickly and turned around in a pouty expression.

"I just wanna beat people up soon..."

"Yeah yeah...Just walk, ok?"

Luffy huffed, which Nami took as a yes. They continued, walking side by side.

"Nami?"

"Huh?"

"I kinda liked that "kissing" thingy last night."

Nami stopped and glowed red. Luffy became worried.

"Are you ok?!" He poked Nami's cheek, then drew it back in shock of the heat.

"OW! Nami! You're burning!"

Nami's legs gave way and she held her head in her hands, shocked by the heat of her face also. She looked up at Luffy's concerned face and stuttered.

"It's nothing...I just...I..." She didn't finish. She didn't know how to deal with all that had been happening lately. It just felt so...wrong. Then, Nami had a realization. Fine, if I'm feeling this way, I had better stop acting like a childish idiot. If I really do love him, I might as well say it. Her cheeks cooled a little and she stood up. She was about to speak when Luffy interupted her with a very sudden and uncharacteristic kiss.

It wasn't like the others. It was the first truly genuine kiss they had shared. There was no confusion, no awkwardness, they both understood what was happening. After the shock was gone, Nami put her arm around Luffy's head, pushing his head closer to hers. They had locked for a while, before they both disconnected and looked at each other with equally amazed expressions.

Only one thing was going through Nami's mind. "How could Luffy of all people kiss like this? Was it instinct?"

Only one thing was going through Luffy's mind. "Why did that weird thing make me so happy?"

Luffy was the one who broke the silence. "Um...Should we keep going with the animal hunt?"

Nami thought for a moment. "T-that's a good idea..."

Luffy was starting to get this. He understood that stuff like kissing and holding Nami close was making them both feel good, especially Nami. All he wanted was Nami to be happy, and at the same time, it made him feel better too. Luffy grinned hugely and intertwined his fingers with hers while they walked.

"Nami?"

Nami smiled.

"Yeah?"

"You seem happier lately...You haven't been yelling or hitting anyone."

Nami laughed.

"Well, I guess you're right!"

Nami glanced over at Luffy, who was still grinnning with his eyes closed. She realized that, if he wasn't so thick-headed, he could be a girl-magnet. His skinny muscles, handsome face; Nami was surprised that she never noticed it before. Even his large scar on his chest seemed to give him a brave, bad-ass look. Who would've thought?

"I'm hot!" Whined Luffy.

"Yes you are..." Quickly answered Nami, who blushed heavily and coughed nervously. Luckily Luffy didn't dicipher her comment, and he stuck his tongue out, panting.

**WHERE ARE OUR OTHER HEROES?**

**Team Zoro and Usopp: **

"Huh! I could've sworn that the camp was over this way..."

"...I let you lead the way...didn't I? Why did I do that?"

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!? YOU GOT US LOST, DUMBASS!"

"HOW IS THIS MY FAULT!?"

** Team Chopper and Franky:**

"Franky! Do you have some sort of awesome radar-thingy to find these guys!?"

"I. In. Fact. Do. Watch. And. Learn-_mecha."_

"WOW! SO COOL!*sparkles*"

**Team Brook, Robin, and Sanji:**

"ROBIN-CHWAN!"

"May we..."

"PLEASE!"

"See your..."

"WONDERFUL!"

"Panties?"

"No."

"*falls on face*"

**BACK TO THE CAPTAIN AND THE NAVIGATOR.**

"Luffy?"

"Aa?"

"What's that noise?"

Luffy perked up his ears and heard the sound, footsteps, a lot of them. He guided Nami behind him and got ready for battle.

"Do you think it's the animal-men?"

"Possibly."

All of a sudden a bullet sprung out of a string of bushes behind them. Luffy detected it with his haki and shoved Nami forcefully out of the way. He slingshotted the bullet back into the bushes with his rubber body.

"Are you alright?!"

"Yeah! Just beat the crap outta them already!"

Luffy spun around toward the bushes and waited for another attack. Suddenly, a figure jumped in the air and landed behind Luffy. He spun around again and barely dodged the figure springing at him.

"So fast..." He muttered.

He realized that the figure was a frog, but as tall as a man and standing on legs. It was an odd sight. The frog bounded in a circle around him almost too fast for Luffy to acknowledge it's movements.

To Nami, the frog was moving at a faster pace then she had ever seen before. She watched the blur circulate around her flustered captain so closely, that she didn't realize someone sneaking up on her.

"NAMI!" Luffy shouted. As soon as he tried to escape the frog's circle, it head-butted straight into him, knocking him a good ten feet away. He got up painfully.

"I-is that frog using Haki?"

He stumbled up and held his arm out.

"Gear Second."

Once he was upgraded, he zoomed to the creature who had Nami, a dog, and knocked him away with a Jet Pistol. Nami fell back to the ground and quickly brought out her lance.

"I'll help Luffy! Stand under the cloud!"

"RIGHT!" He shouted back, doing so. The frog stopped jumping, wondering what the two were doing. Both Luffy and Nami smirked before shouting.

"Gomu Gomu No..."

"Thunderlance Tempo..."

"PULSE!" They both shouted as Luffy's Gatling mixed with Nami's lightning, forming an onslaught of electrical punches that hit the frog full on. Once the new attack was over, they looked at each other and flashed the victory sign.

"That was AWESOME!" Remarked Luffy. Nami laughed.

"I have to admit, that WAS awesome!"

But their excitement was short lived when they heard an assortment of clicking sounds and turned around. Hundreds of different species of animals were all pointing pistols at the two. Nami comically screamed and hid behind Luffy.

"THERE'S MORE!?"

Luffy smirked and swung his arm.

"Hah! Like bullets are going to do anything against me-"

A cat-man in the front pulled the trigger and, instead of bouncing off of Luffy, it passed straight through him, as if he wasn't rubber at all. His eyes widened in surprise and he fell over backwards. Nami looked down in horror.

"LUFFY!"

**Heh heh...I LOVE cliffhangers SO much! I love torturing people! :)**

**See you guys soon!**


	6. Nami's Brilliant Idea

**Hello again! Thanks again for the reviews. I got several reviews pointing out some flaws in the last chappie, which I really appreciate! Sorry if I made someone angry over some mistake, but I'm only human I guess...*shrug***

**ONWARDS! TO MORE WORDS!**

* * *

Nami watched Luffy fall to the ground in shock. Why did the bullet hit him? Was it sea stone? No, why would a bunch of animals have sea stone? Was he alright? She barely dodged a strike from the now-awakened dog-man and covered her head in fear. She slowly peeked at Luffy, who was struggling to get up, holding his very severe wound.

Nami narrowed her eyes and smacked the dog-man away with her staff. Hurriedly she ran over toward the wobbling Luffy.

"Are you alright!?"

Another bullet came flying at Luffy's head. He dodged it awkwardly and nearly toppled over.

"I'm fine Nami! I'm not going to be beaten by some animals!"

Nami nodded and held up her staff, prepared to fight alongside her captain.

Suddenly, a large cat-man held out his arm, stopping the other animals. Nami and Luffy looked up in confusion.

"Hold on-_neko._ Look at the orange one-_neko."_

The animals all glanced at Nami and all gained minor nosebleeds. Nami's teeth turned sharp and she yelled,

"IS THIS REALLY THE BEST TIME YOU PERVERTS?!"

The cat-man grinned devilishly.

"Kill the Mugi-_neko,_ but keep the girl alive."

The animals all nodded and pointed their guns at Luffy. The cat-man grabbed Nami with his tail while Luffy was shot once more, this time by a gorilla. He stumbled backwards, but kept his footing. He gritted his teeth angerly and held his thumb up to his mouth.

"Gear Thi-"

"Hold up Mugi-_neko_." The cat-man laughed, holding up the squirming Nami. "If you do that you might hit the girl-_neko."_

Luffy's eyes widened and he lowered his thumb, then charged at the cat, shouting. A pigeon-man shot Luffy in the side, causing him to stumble to the ground. Nami gasped and desperately looked toward the cat.

"Please Mr. Cat-Sama! I'm just a poor girl! Let me go please!" She begged with puppy-dog eyes. On the outside, she was pretending to be helpless, but on the inside she was burning like fire. How DARE they treat Luffy like that!

"Oh? And why would I do that, Cutie-_Neko_?" He smirked oddly with his cat-like fangs., Luffy weakly started to get up, but all the animals surrounded him in a circle.

"NAMI!" He shouted out desperately. "DON'T HURT HER YOU BASTARDS!"

Nami furrowed her eyebrows angerly. She thought for a moment. There was only one way to get these animal's attention. She cleared her throat and said in the most innocent way possible.

"Oh boys!"

All the animals turned around to stare at the comically sparkling girl wrapped in the cat's tail.

"Oh...these jeans are so hot! Would one of you cuties care to take them off for me?"

Of course all the animal's eyes turned to hearts and of course all of them ran over to Nami. The cat-man fell for the spell too and dropped Nami on the ground so they could do so. Once Nami landed though, she smirked.

"Like I'd do something like that for free you perverts!"

She pulled out her staff and all the animals stopped, slowly looked upwards, saw a gargantuan cloud, looked back at Nami, and whimpered.

"Thunderbolt Tempo!" She annouced snarkly as lightning struck all the animals at once, somehow ignoring her. They all fell to the ground cooked, while Nami kneeled on the ground catching her breath.

Then she remembered Luffy. She hurried toward him. He was on his back panting from several other wounds he had gained from the short time he'd been surrounded. Nami kneeled next to him.

"Luffy! What happened? Those animals just overpowered you like nothing!"

Luffy coughed and tried to sit up.

"They had haki...In their bullets too...and they couldn't be downed with Conqueror's Haki for some reason."

Nami cocked her head.

"But they were so weak!"

"I know!"

He finally sat up and grabbed his bleeding shoulder.

"And I couldn't hit them with anything cause they had you."

Nami winced in guilt. Luffy smiled and put his hand on Nami's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it Nami. You did great! You were awesome! Shishishi!" He laughed weakly, clearly starting to pass out. Nami noticed and shushed him.

"Luffy. We need to get you to Chopper right away. You're hurt badly."

She tried to stand him up, but his legs wobbled too much and he fell back on his butt. Nami raised her eyebrows in sympathy.

"Ok...um.." She desperately started to think. Then she squatted in front of Luffy, her back to him. "Get on."

Luffy hesitated, not wanting to burden Nami.

"You can't. I'm way too hea-"

"Shut up and get on you idiot!" She interrupted harshly. Luffy shut his mouth and wrapped his arms around Nami's neck. Nami struggled to stand up with Luffy on her back, but she managed. As they started walking, Luffy went unconscious, causing him to grow quite heavier. Nami pinched her eyes closed and kept heading toward the camp, carrying her wounded Captain the whole way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the battlefield, the cat-man painfully woke up. He banged the ground.

"That sneaky girl tricked us! I'll make her pay for that-_neko._..."

He suddenly noticed something on the ground. It was of blueish color and was quite long. He crawled over and picked it up.

"Oh...It's that thing that girl was using!"

He grinned and stood up with the Clima-Tact.

"How nice of you to leave it here with me, Cutie-_Neko_."

* * *

**Gah! I really enjoyed writing this chapter for some reason! :3 I guess just the thought of Nami carrying Luffy on her back makes me squee...NOT SURE**

**Anyway, next chapter coming soon...yadda yadda...all of that stuff...PIZZA-BAGELS**


	7. Something That's Better Than Meat

**Howdy! Thanks to everyone for the feedback! THEY MAKE ME SO HAPPY!**

***koff koff* Anyway, I'm starting to amp up the "romance" bit as you can see in this chapter. I know, I enjoy a bit of action too, but it's supposed to be a LUNA, have you forgotten?!**

* * *

"Dammit!" Breathed out Franky, plopping down on a stool near the Sunny. "Even with my _super _radar, I couldn't find those bastards!"

Suddenly, Franky appeared on the ground with a dark aura around him.

"I'm useless today...Useless..."

"If we didn't find them maybe somebody else did..." Commented Chopper softly. Suddenly they heard a mixture of haunting-sounding singing and swooning. Chopper rushed over to them, tugging nervously on his blue cap.

"Did you guys find them? Robin?"

Robin shook her head, expertly blocking out the obvious annoyance that was occurring beside her.

Chopper sighed and plopped cross-legged on the grass. Robin glanced over in Franky's direction, slightly amused by his depression.

"Shouldn't Mr. Robot get to work on the Sunny?" Robin asked passively. Chopper lifted his eyes and ran steaming toward him.

"FRANKY YOU BUM! GET TO WORK! IDIOT!"

Robin giggled at the reindeer hitting Franky over the head, but then she heard something. From behind her. She turned around and saw a disfigured looking figure in the distance.

"Everyone, who's that?"

Sanji and Brook looked up from their spell and Chopper glanced behind him. Robin squinted for a moment before widening her eyes.

"It's Luffy."

"What?" Robin and Chopper rushed over and saw a very weak and worn Nami carrying the wounded and unconscious Luffy on her back. Nami collapsed onto her knees, and dropped Luffy on the ground. Robin kneeled next to her while Chopper checked out Luffy.

"Nami! What happened to you two?!" Robin asked concerned. Nami was panting, and couldn't answer. Robin blinked.

"Sanji-kun, please come here." Demanded Robin. Sanji whirled over in a hurricane of hearts, but stopped when he noticed the condition Nami was in.

"Nami-San. Did you find them? Why is Luffy so badly injured?"

"Leave her alone for right now." Snapped Chopper. "She needs treatment too. I just need to stop the bleeding on Luffy first." Brook and Franky motioned for them, and they left Chopper to his work.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

An hour later, Luffy had been moved to inside Chopper's tent and Nami was resting in hers. Nami awoke to activity outside.

"Huh? What?" She winced painfully, and noticed that she had a bandage around her head. Why do I need a bandage? She thought, until she touched it and winced. Maybe I cut it when I fell down. She crawled out of the tent and saw everyone sitting around the fire tensely. It was turning night. She stood and walked toward them.

"Nami!" Jumped everyone. They all smiled at her happily, and Sanji of course freaked out. Nami giggled, but then noticed some of the crew were missing.

"Oi, where are the others?" She asked Robin.

"Well, Chopper is in his tent operating on Luffy..."

"OPERATING!?" Shouted Nami. Franky and Brook glanced at each other and Robin looked at her sympathetically.

"He has to get the shrapnel from the bullets out Nami..." She said tortly. She noticed that the rest of them were worried about the outcome too.

"And what about the other two?"

"You mean Usopp and Zoro?"

Sanji lit a cigarette. "The Marimo and the idiot haven't come back yet..."

"Oh god...They got lost didn't they..." Nami facepalmed. "Stupid idiots."

They were interrupted by Chopper, who walked out of the tent seriously. His fur was blood-stained.

"Chopper!" Nami exclaimed, running over to him. "Is he alright?!"

"Aa." Replied Chopper. "But he lost a lot of blood...He'll need to rest for a while."

Nami sighed in relief and the others loosened up and smiled. Nami winked at Sanji.

"He'll get better faster if you give him meat you know!"

Sanji contained his excitement over Nami winking at him and grinned.

"On it Nami-San!"

"Thank you Mr. Reindeer...I'm not sure what we'd do without you."

"T-that doesn't make me happy Robin, you asshole!"

Everyone laughed and Sanji started cooking dinner.

Only one person was absent from dinner. Nami had sneaked away and crawled inside Chopper's tent flap, holding a plate filled with meat. There she saw a heavily bandaged and quite pale Luffy. Aside from that, however, he was softly smiling in his sleep, breathing steadily.

Nami smiled in sympathy and lay down the plate.

"Luffy..." No answer of course. "You're such an idiot, making us worry like that." Nami sighed and sat up, kneeling right beside the sleeping boy. She stared at him for a moment, then crossed her arms.

"You owe me 1,000,000 Beli for carrying you all those miles! You'd better pay!"

She paused, looking shyly over at a corner. Then Nami rubbed her neck.

"Alright, since you're hurt I'll make it 100,000..." Another pause.

"Fine...you don't have to pay I guess..."

Just then, Luffy's hand lay onto hers. Nami raised her eyebrows in shock and glanced at his eyes, which were starting to open.

"Nami?" He questioned, squinting over at her sleepily. Nami stared at him, watching his eyes slowly come back to life. He frowned, still dopey from the pain-reliever.

"Why'd you do something like that Nami? You hurt yourself..."

Nami scoffed.

"Look at you moron, you look like a mummy..."

She coughed, staring at the floor shyly. There was his kindness again. I wish I could hit myself over the head... Her thoughts were interrupted by Luffy sitting up suddenly, knocking over a couple liquid bottles.

"Luffy! What-"

"I'm bored...I want to go play with Usopp."

"Usopp's not back yet..."

Luffy raised his eyebrows, the color coming back into his cheeks.

"Then Chopper?"

"He'd just yell at you."

Luffy pouted and lay back down, wincing from his back hitting the ground.

"Then I guess you are the only one left." He grinned.

"Yeah." Nami wagged her finger. "But we stay here. Don't get outta this tent until Chopper says so, alright?"

"Aw..."

"ALRIGHT?"

"Alright..."

Luffy suddenly grabbed Nami's hand and put it to his chest. Nami was surprised by this gesture. Instinct, she decided again. She blushed softly and scooted closer to him, and gently lay his head on her lap.

"Is that more comfortable than lying on the ground?"

Luffy closed his eyes and laughed.

"Shishishi! Your lap is warm!" As if this was the most amusing thing in the world. Nami laughed along with him, and started stroking his messy, yet surprisingly soft hair. After a silent five minutes, Nami remembered something.

"Oh! Luffy! I forgot, I brought you some meat!" Nami started to get up when Luffy placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Stay here...I'll eat the meat later." He said happily. Nami gaped at him for a second, and blinked.

"Wha-"

"This feels nicer than eating meat." Luffy added, acting as if this wasn't a big deal. Nami stopped, then laughed.

"So you really can restrain yourself, can't you?"

"What do you mean? I'm very restrainablelele!" Luffy said defensibly.

"Do you even know what that means?"

"No."

"Exactly!"

Suddenly, Luffy wrapped his left arm around Nami's neck and scooted up so he was sitting on her lap. He rested his head on her shoulder, causing Nami to blush.

"Luffy..." She began. "How do you know how to act like this if you don't even know what love is?"

Luffy glanced up at Nami, smiling.

"I don't know. My body just kinda moves on it's own."

Just then the tent flap opened and an innocent, and very confused reindeer stared at them with a shocked expression on his face. Nami's face was nearly identical, and a question mark popped out of Luffy's head.

Chopper looked at Nami, looked at Luffy cuddled up on her, Nami, Luffy, Nami, Luffy, until he stopped.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" Exclaimed Chopper, which made Nami accidentally drop Luffy onto the ground. Luffy rubbed his head.

"Oi! Nami! Why'd you go and do that for?"

"Luffy!?" Chopper turned toward Luffy with a stern expression on his face. "What were you two doing?"

"Oh...well...we were just..."

"I asked Luffy Nami!" Snapped Chopper, extremely unlike him. Nami shut up, wondering why Chopper was so frazzled over this.

"Oh! Nami came in to give me meat and I woke up and we were talking about stuff!" Laughed Luffy. "Then Nami was being nice so I sat on her!"

Ignorance is bliss...Nami thought in her mind. Nevertheless, Chopper grabbed Luffy by the ear and pulled him out of the tent.

"Ow! Chopper! Why are you...OW! My side hurts again! Chopper!"

Nami just sat inside the tent, utterly embarrassed about the situation. She knew that she would've had to tell them about Luffy sooner or later, but she didn't expect Chopper to freak out like that...

"Ok...Luffy...listen. Since you were never taught this stuff, I'm going to have to tell you some things..."

"What things?"

Chopper closed his eyes and sighed.

"Luffy...You "like" Nami, right?"

"Well yeah...But I'm having that weird "Love" feeling too."

"Yeah...that thing...Listen. You need to know a couple things before I'll let you out of here..."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

"Dammit Usopp! You got us lost!"

"No, YOU got us lost! I was following YOU!"

*rustle*

"W-what was that?!"

"Stay behind me Usopp, something is gonna die..."

**What's Chopper going to say to Luffy?! Whats will happen to Zoro and Usopp? Is Luffy and Nami's relationship just too sudden for the others to handle? Find out, on the next...**

**NAMI WHAT'S LOVE!**

**Yeah, I hoped you guys liked it...I know a lot of you really enjoyed the action chapters, but this is a romance after all...but don't fret, there still WILL be action!**


	8. A Stern Conversation

**Hello once again, readers! I hope you enjoy the next chapter. **

** I just finished the anime series **_**Lovely Complex **_**(If you could call watching an anime series in a day "finishing") And I HIGHLY recommend it! It's actually the best romance anime I've watched so far! It's so cute, and funny, and the main boy character is shorter than the girl for a change!**

** But anyway, I'm getting off topic...I hope it's alright!**

* * *

Several hours had passed since Chopper had dragged Luffy into his tent, and everyone except Nami was asleep. She had a fluffy pink bathrobe on and was sitting next to the dying fire eating the dinner she had missed. She may have seemed calm, but on the inside she was swarmed with questions.

What's Chopper telling him? Why did he freak out? These questions and many more.

Suddenly, Luffy's tent flap opened and Chopper crawled out, along with Luffy, who had a comically shocked face-fault. Nami cocked her head at Luffy's odd and stupid expression.

"What did you tell him Chopper?! He looks traumatized!"

Chopper stared up at Nami.

"I gave him 'The Talk'..." He replied.

"WHAAAAAT?!" Screamed Nami and she started smacking Luffy. "Come back Luffy! Don't let this ruin your childhood!"

Nami turned toward Chopper.

"How much did you tell him?!"

"Everything...And I mean everything..."

"HE'S JUST A KID!"

Chopper started yelling at Nami.

"HE'S NINETEEN! HE SHOULD'VE KNOWN THIS STUFF A LONG TIME AGO!"

"BUT HE'S JUST SO...INNOCENT! YOU'VE TRAUMATIZED HIM!"

"SO WHAT!? I ONLY TOLD HIM THAT STUFF TO PROTECT YOU NAMI!"

Nami stopped and looked at Chopper quizzically.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Chopper's face became hidden with a shadow.

"Luffy is an oblivious idiot who doesn't know anything...But...His instinct is uncanny." Nami blinked.

"I'm just afraid, that if he carried on being so oblivious, that his instinct would take over and..."

Chopper didn't finish, knowing that Nami understood. Nami was shocked. Luffy and her weren't like that...They weren't even a couple yet! Nami glanced over at the frozen face-fault of Luffy's again and sighed..

"Thanks Chopper..But..." She paused. "Don't tell anyone else yet, alright?"

Chopper smiled cutely.

"Then try to be a little less obvious! Robin already has suspicions, I know because she asked me."

Nami narrowed her eyes and headed toward her tent..

"See ya, I'm going to bed."

Chopper flinched at her seriousness, and tugged on his cap nervously.

"I guess I should get Luffy to bed too..."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Usopp and Zoro STILL aren't back yet!?"

Shouted Nami to the frightened Straw Hats. Brook fell over...

"She's so scary my heart is stopping..."

"DON'T JOKE AROUND BROOK!" Yelled Nami to Brook and she gave Franky and Sanji an evil stare.

"Well!? Look for them for heaven's sake!" Franky and Sanji both saluted nervously and ran off into the direction.

Nami sat on a stool and massaged her temple.

"Geez, why am I so stressed? This isn't even the worst island we've been to!"

"Are you alright Nami?" Asked a voice that could only belong to Robin. Nami looked up and saw her standing there, obviously worried about her.

"Yeah...just a bit stressed I guess..."

Robin giggled.

"Luffy seems a bit shy today."

Nami's head shot up.

"What!? He woke up?!"

Robin covered her mouth with her hand and pointed behind Nami. Nami turned around and saw a blushing Luffy, peeking out from behind the trunk of a tree. When Nami noticed him he hid, still showing a little of his hair. Nami laughed.

"Cute..." She widened her eyes and turned back toward Robin, who was acting completely serious with a thought bubble of chibi-versions of Luffy and Nami surrounded by hearts and flowers.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Nami shouted. Robin giggled and glanced at Luffy, who was peeking at them again.

"Nami. I support you two." She said with a smile and walked away.

Nami stuck her chin out, pissed off, then loosened up and sat onto the ground. She glanced at her bracelet, remembering Nojiko.

"Nojiko...I could really use you right now..." She whispered, before she heard some soft footsteps from behind. She looked behind her and saw Luffy, who flinched and hid himself behind a nearby shrub.

"Luffy, I know you're there...Come here."

Luffy scuttled over to Nami at stood in front of her, looking down with a flushed face.

"Are you alright?" They both asked each other at the same time. They winced and looked away from each other. Luffy turned to the side and pulled his hat over his eyes.

"Nami?"

"What?"

"I just want you to know that I will never hurt you..." Nami looked back at Luffy with shining eyes.

"Lu-"

"I promise." He interrupted, then put his hands in his pockets and started to leave.

"H-hold on idiot!" Nami said with a choked tone in her voice. Luffy stopped, his back to her. Nami paused for a moment, then sprung up and hugged Luffy from the back, wrapping her arms around his stomach. She hugged hard, afraid that she would let go of him. Luffy looked back at her, and she started burying her face in his shirt.

"I just-I want you to still be the mindless kid I met back at Orange town..." She admitted. "But you've grown up so much...you're so strong and mature now. I just-"

Nami was interrupted by Luffy, who turned around suddenly and kissed her. It was short, and he let go staring into Nami's eyes seriously.

"I'm not a kid anymore Nami. I haven't been a kid since I left Windmill village."

He placed his hand lightly on her shoulder.

"If I were a kid then I couldn't protect my nakama."

Nami shut her eyes, tearing up. Luffy lowered his eyes, feeling bad about making Nami cry. He let go of Nami's shoulder and looked at his lap. They sat there in silence for a bit, before Nami spoke up.

"I know that you would never hurt me Luffy." She started. "You don't need to tell me that."

Luffy took his hat off and rubbed his head. Then looked up at Nami with a determined smirk.

"I love you Nami."

Nami's eyes widened at the remark. But she dried her eyes and pushed their foreheads together, grinning along with him.

"Me too."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Dammit! Where is that marimo?" Shouted Sanji who was running alongside Franky through the fields. Franky pulled out his radar and started trying to detect them.

"Curly-brow! Over here!"

Sanji gave an irk mark at Franky, but followed him and saw Usopp and Zoro, wandering with several bruises on their face, and some burns.

"OI! YOU STUPID MARIMO! YOU LONG-NOSED IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU SHITTY MORONS DOING?!" Shouted Sanji.

Zoro and Usopp whirled around and saw the two men rushing toward them. Usopp started comically crying and clinged onto them both.

"Thank god you two! I couldn't stay much longer with this brutish maniac! Thank you! Thank yo-"

"GET OFF YOU CREEP." yelled both Franky and Sanji at the same time, making Usopp fly into a tree. Zoro crossed his arms.

"Usopp got us lost."

"LIKE HELL I'LL BELIEVE THAT!"

"YOU ASKING FOR A FIGHT CURLY-BROW?!"

"MOSS-HEAD!"

"NOSEBLEED!"

Sanji and Zoro's fire-aura started swirling around them and Franky sighed. He pulled Usopp out of the tree and swept him off.

"Let's go ahead back...Leave these two here for a while."

"Aye..."

Franky and Usopp headed back while Zoro and Sanji fought it out.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"MY CLIMA-TACT!" Screamed Nami. Luffy, Chopper and Brook scuttled away from Nami, who was ammiting a dark aura. Luffy spoke softly from the side of his mouth.

"You left it at the battle-place, remember?"

Nami turned around with an obviously pissed expression that made Luffy hide behind Brook in fear.

"So. You're. Telling. Me. That. Those. Perverted. Animals. Have. My. Staff?"

Brook, Chopper, and Luffy started shaking and hugging each other in fear.

"Who called for me?!" Shouted Franky's familiar voice. Everyone's face lit up and they all ran toward them. They found very annoyed versions of Usopp and Franky.

"Oi, where are Sanji and Zoro?"

Franky and Usopp sweatdropped. Then waved their hands.

"No. No. Just forget about them for now. They're fine."

Robin looked up from her book and popped another thought bubble with a chibi Sanji and Zoro surrounded by hearts and flowers this time. Everyone twitched and stared at Robin. Usopp walked away.

"I'm gonna throw up..."

Franky and Chopper followed him.

"Me too..."

After that awkward moment everyone waited for Zoro and Sanji to arrive so that they could celebrate and eat dinner together. Luffy was complaining as always and smiled when Nami went by.

"Just be patient, alright?" Said Nami. Luffy nodded, pouting and hugged his knees on the ledge by the waterfall.

Nami laughed and walked away, then remembered that her Clima-Tact was missing, and steamed off comically.

Luffy looked back at Nami leaving and felt a different kind of weird feeling, and this one he didn't like so much. He tried to shake it off, and after a surprising amount of effort, it went away. He pulled his hat over his eyes and turned back to the water, muttering to himself,

"I promise I will never hurt you Nami..."

**Oh my god, It actually kinda hurt me to write this chapter...LUFFY! WHAT'S GOING ON?! T.T *hugs Luffy***

**Yeah, THANKS ONCE AGAIN FOR THE REVIEWS! They are getting nicer and nicer! :3 I'll try to keep y'all entertained!**


	9. The StrawHats VS The Animal-Men

**NUUUUUUUUUU! I'M SORRY! IT'S BEEN SO LONG!**

**I'm really sorry for the late update! I had a MASSIVE writer's block about this chapter! (Since I write a chapter with no clue what I'm going to write next) and I'm thinking of writing some One Shots/Stories due to overwelming asks from PM and reviews alike!**

**HOPEFULLY I did an OK job with this chapter...There's little to NO romance but...THERE'S ACTION! THERE'S SOMETHING! *sweatdrop***

* * *

"Alright, Usopp. Why are you covered with burns?"

After all the anxiety about everything died down, Franky got straight to the point. Nami was literally on fire about her Clima-Tact and Chopper was avoiding her, trying to hide behind Robin.

"We fought with some sort of Lizard-man." Replied Usopp. "But it was different..It could breathe fire! Zoro was down instantly and I'M the one who brought him down! He was running away before it could even-"

"USOPP!" Nami and Franky shouted. Usopp fell over backward and starting trembling in terror.

"Fine...But the Fire Lizard was truth. And it was surprisingly tough. Even Zoro was having a bit of trouble."

Nami raised her eyebrows and starting thinking out loud.

"But...all the animals me and Luffy fought were stupid weaklings..." Suddenly it came to her and she screamed in comedic fear.

"T-THOSE ONES WERE JUST THE WEAKEST ONES?!" She fainted on the ground and the crew sweatdropped.

"Oi...What happened!? Did Zoro and Sanji come back!?" Luffy was running toward them with surprisingly, a straight face. Everyone looked at each other.

"No...But Luffy, are you alright?"

"Of course I am!" Replied Luffy defensively. "So...what happened?"

Once Usopp explained it to him, as you can expect, Luffy's eyes sparkled with joy.

"A-a FIRE-LIZARD!? AWESOME!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Yelled Usopp and Chopper as they hit him over the head.

Nami was on the ground holding her knees. Luffy got really beat up even with the weakest ones! What is with these animals? Nami swallowed and stood up.

"But...you and Zoro got really banged up by just ONE enemy! How are we going to be able to fight them?"

Luffy suddenly got serious and narrowed his eyes angerly at Nami.

"Who's saying that they're stronger than us? We've fought people TWENTY times stronger than these bastards!"

Nami winced at his seriousness, then added.

"But Luffy..."

"But nothing. We will beat them. Stop doubting our strength Nami."

Everyone watched this episode rather cautiously. Luffy turned toward them and everyone was taken aback by how furious he looked. He cracked his knuckles and muttered,

"Let's go."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"THOSE BASTARDS WENT ON WITHOUT US!" Shouted Sanji. Zoro crossed his arms.

"Well, we have been fighting for five hours..."

"WE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN OUT HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE IF YOUR DIRECTION SKILLS WERE SO FREAKING SHITTY!"

An irk mark appeared over Zoro's head.

"WELL YOU WOU-"

Just then, a large bush opened up and out appeared the Strawhats, walking in unison in a very bad-ass way. Sanji and Zoro raised their eyebrows oddly. As they passed Zoro and Sanji were just looking at them, until they were grabbed by their collars by Robin and Usopp and pulled to the edge of the march. They looked very awesome and a dramatic explosion appeared behind them. Nami facepalmed and started yelling at everyone.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE WE EVEN DOING!?"

"Aw! Nami! You ruined it!" Pouted Luffy.

"RUINED WHAT?!" She yelled back.

"We were trying to march awesomely to battle!"

"IS THIS REALLY THE TIME?!"

"WHEN ELSE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO MARCH INTO BATTLE?!"

"WHENEVER! JUST NOT INTO BATTLE!"

"AND **YOU** SAY THAT **I** DON'T MAKE SENSE!"

Daggers shot through Luffy's and Nami's eyes while everyone sweatdropped. They waved their hands.

"Oi oi..What are you two even arguing about?"

"SHUT UP!" Shouted Luffy and Nami harshly. Usopp and Brook fell over while Chopper hid behind Robin.

"Can you two hurry up? I want to kill something." Remarked Zoro. '

Nami sighed and crossed her arms.

"Whatever, let's just go already..."

"Can we march?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU MORON?!"

After about ten more minutes, they continued walking, Nami and Luffy huffing along staring at each other with funny angered expressions. Sanji and Zoro were walking side by side, as if they WEREN'T just fighting for five hours straight. Chopper and Robin looked at each other smiling.

"OI! I SEE SOMETHING!"

Everyone whirled around at Usopp's shout and they did, indeed, see something. Many things. Animals of different species and some of similar walked toward them in such great number that they couldn't even estimate. Everyone gawked at the sheer number of them all.

"So...many..."

Everyone looked at Luffy, who was trying to use a conqueror's haki on them. No go. He glared at the animals.

"Looks like I'll have to fight you all the hard way, eh?"

Nami was about to stop the monster trio as they charged, but then she remembered.

_"We will beat them. Stop doubting our strength Nami."_

Nami swallowed and started yelling at the other to join them.

"WHY AREN'T **YOU** COMING?!" Shouted Usopp angerly.

Nami crossed her arms and stuck her chin in the air.

"Because...My weapon was stolen.."

Nami may have seen snooty by the way she said that, but on the inside, she was feeling horrible. She watched the others fight all the animals and wished she could fight alongside them. She was so caught up in thinking about this, she didn't realize that her crew was starting to wear out.

"They...*pant pant* are getting harder!" Breathed out Franky.

"How many of these shitty animals are there?!" Added Sanji.

Luffy and Zoro were the only ones who hadn't stopped for a breather. Every few seconds you heard "Pistol!" or "Oni Giri" or something else of that nature. Luffy and Zoro smirked at each other before whipping out a double-team on a quite tough enemy. Everyone watched in awe, until they heard Nami.

"YOU BUMS! JOIN THEM OR ELSE I'LL REALLY HURT YOU!"

The others yipped in fright and began fighting once more.

Luffy's mind was turned off, as it mostly was when he was fighting. All he thought about was winning, and that was all. Suddenly, something caught him off guard and turned his mind back on. An alligator-man had spun it's massive tail straight into his back, sending him flying into a boulder. Everyone saw this and was momentarily distracted.

"LUFFY!"

Luffy was fine, but this split-second of distraction was all the animals needed. Nami watched in horror as, in the span of a single second., every one of her crew was striked with immense power. Chopper and Usopp were knocked out instantly. By some sheer luck, a pig-man had accidentally hit Franky straight in the back. Robin and Brook were on the ground, trying to pull the others out, while Zoro and Sanji were trying to get back on their feet.

"Hello-_neko,_ Cutie-_neko_..."

Nami's pupils grew smaller and she slowly turned around, seeing the cat-man with several other cat-men. The one who had spoken had Nami's Clima-Tact slung on his shoulder. They all had dangerous smiles on their whiskered faces.

Nami stood there frozen for a moment, until she heard Luffy's demanding voice.

"NAMI! GET OVER HERE NOW! RUN!"

Luffy coughed harshly, then stood up from the rubble and started sprinting toward her. Without any hesitation, Nami starting running as fast as her legs could carry her. Their hands were about three inches apart when, almost as if in slow motion, the collar of her shirt was grabbed and she was thrown backwards. Luffy tripped at the sudden motion and cried out desperately.

"NAMI!"

Nami was caught by a cheetah-man, who tucked her under his arm and ran into the forest at an exceptional speed. Luffy picked himself up and shouted, his voice cracking a little.

"THEY'VE GOT NAMI!"

Every single one of the crew members, (including the now-awakened Usopp and Chopper) jolted their head up. The cat with the Clima-Tact grinned and announced to the other animals.

"Our task is done. Let's return to Teddy-Sama!"

"AYE!" The animals all sprinted into the forest also, the cat-man following behind. None of them even glancing back at the petty-looking pirates.

Luffy stood panting, staring at the forest with a frighting expression. Then he bolted into it without warning. Everyone called after him nervously. They all looked at each other with pained expressions, then ran after him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"It's hopeless! We won't catch up to him!" Choked an out-of-breath Usopp, who was running alongside the others. "He's fast! And he got a head-start!"

"So what? What kind of crew would we be if we just let our Captain die?!" Replied Zoro harshly. Usopp flinched, then shut up.

Suddenly, some sort of speeding object barreled into the Strawhats from the side, causing everyone to be knocked over.

"Luffy!?"

It was, indeed, a Luffy who had barreled into them. They all lay panting on the ground, except for Chopper.

"I thought you were chasing after them?!"

"I WAS!" Snapped Luffy, who was weezing with exhaustion. "I lost them! I dunno where I am!"

"You went in a circle..." Muttered Zoro. "How idiotic..."

"SAYS YOU!" Shouted Chopper.

Luffy sat up, and they all decided to sit there for a bit to try to figure out what to do.

"We should hurry up. Nami might get hurt by those animals." Remarked Franky.

"But where would they be?!"

"Somewhere in the forest!"

"I know that!"

"It took us almost two days to find them, and that was when they were TRYING to be found." Added Robin. "Now that they're hiding, who knows how long it will take to find them?"

"And she doesn't even have a weapon to defend hers-"

"SHUT UP!" Shouted Luffy, who was sitting by himself by a tree. Everyone looked toward him alertly.

"I KNOW that this is a bad situation! I already feel like I let everyone down! I don't need to be reminded on what horrible things could happen or are happening to my navigator! So just SHUT UP already!"

"Luffy-San..." whispered Brook to himself. Everyone nodded and stood up.

"You're right..." Was all they said. They started to walk when Luffy stood up and blocked them with his arm.

"I'll go by myself. So no one else is hurt."

Sanji furrowed his eyebrows and stepped around his arm.

"Well, I'm going to help Nami-San too." He announced. Zoro crossed his arms and sighed.

"Well, If Love Cook here is going, I don't want him to have all the fun."

Luffy's angry demeanor turned to an expressionless one. Zoro and Sanji smiled and grabbed Usopp from behind a tree he was hiding.

"O-OI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" He squirmed as Zoro plopped Usopp beside them. Usopp stopped resisting and realized what was going on. He sighed. Were they really so nostalgic NOW?

"The rest of you...wait for us back at camp." Said Zoro.

"Aye."

Usopp, Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy turned around, smirking at each other.

"Here we are again."

"This brings back memories."

"I get to save Nami-Swan again.."

"Really. You three are morons..."

The four men started walking deeper into the forest, side-by-side, just like they did two years ago at Arlong Park.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Nami was thrown into a cell. She didn't know where. She didn't know how. She scuttled over to the corner of the cell, feeling utter helplessness. She was scared. Tears dripped from her eyes, and she whispered desperately,

"Save me...Luffy..."

**Ok doke! Finally!**

**Don't fret! I promise that there will be PLENTY of romance for everyone starting next chapter! I was just in an action-y mood this week.**

**LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS! YOUR FEEDBACK CAN MAKE THE STORY BETTER-ER!**


	10. The Punching of Teddy-Sama

**I SEVERLY apologize once again for the wait. I was grounded for a week! T.T NO TECHNOLOGY!**

**But anyway, I really wanted to make this chapter something special, but I just wanted to get it done for you guys so...Hopefully the chapters will improve.**

* * *

About four hours since Nami had been kidnapped, Nami was still sitting in the corner. She had stopped crying a long time ago, but nothing could stop her fear.

Just then, a giant white bear-man surrounded by animal-warriors strode into the cell confidently. Nami stared up at the bear in clear fury.

"Oh ho...So THIS is the Cutie Fluffy-Kun was talking about, eh?" Said the bear. Nami winced then shouted out.

"I'M NOT JUST AN OBJECT YOU PERVERTED BEAR!"

The bear laughed in a peculiar way that sounded like "Grrrahahah" and crossed his furry arms.

"It's Teddy-Sama, human. You should be thankful. You'll become the queen of the pirates! All you need to do is marry me and wait for me to become king!"

"YOU WEAK FURBALL WILL NEVER CONQUER THE WORLD!" She yelled out with conviction. "LUFFY WILL BE THE PIRATE KING!"

All of the animals surrounding Teddy laughed out loud. Teddy grabbed Nami and pushed her against the wall.

"Listen. Us animals have been through so much to get here. I had to let go of my only son in order to get to this point. STOP SAYING THAT YOU HUMANS ARE SO SPECIAL!"

At that he dropped Nami violently on the ground. She was utterly confused. What did they mean?

"You humans are all the same. Evil, heartless bastards that only think about themselves!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Nami replied defensively.

"I'm done here. Animals, prepare her for me. I'll convince her yet."

As Teddy walked out, the animals grabbed Nami by the arms and carried her, squirming and kicking, out to the hallway.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Nami walked out of the building she was in wearing an orange, skimpy bikini and realized that they had just walked out of a tree, a GIANT tree. She barely had time to realize that they were on top of the waterfall until she was grabbed by Teddy and plopped on his furry lap.

"You are quite the Cutie, aren't you?"

Nami coughed at the bear's foul breath and turned her head away from him in fright. She was defenseless, and who knew what this bear could do to her? She swallowed nervously, then her head was grabbed sharply by Teddy's paw.

"Avoiding me, eh?" He grinned mischievously. "Looks like it's time to step up the game..."

Just then, an earsplitting "NAMI!" sounded from beneath the waterfall. Luffy. Nami smiled in relief and tried to shout back, but a clawed paw was wapped over her mouth. Nami peeked over the fall and saw Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp standing strongly, prepared to fight. Teddy seemed confused for a second.

"How did you fools find us?!"

Luffy smirked.

"Sanji's "Mellorine" radar..."

Nami burst out laughing under Teddy's paw, which made Teddy furious. He grabbed Nami's head and yanked it next to his.

"This Cutie is going to be my wife; She is going to be my queen once I become the Pirate King!"

Luffy stayed still in silent fury. The other men stood next to him with their arms crossed. Teddy turned toward the desperate Nami, and bared his teeth. Nami widened her eyes in horror as the bear began nibbling her neck.

"DON"T YOU DARE TOUCH MY GIRLFRIEND!"

Everything stopped for a moment. Teddy's eyes widened and he stopped. Nami's mouth was agape in shock, but nobody was as shocked as the three men beside Luffy. All three of their jaws fell to the ground and, after a minute of silence, a loud "WHAT?!" came from their outstretched jaws.

Before anyone could recover, Luffy rocketed up the waterfall and landed beside them. He yanked Teddy up to his face and hit him so hard, that he flew off the top of the waterfall and landed into the pond under it with a splash. Luffy turned toward Nami and lifted her up off the ground.

"Lu-"

"Not now." He interrupted as the small amount of animal-men who were just watching their boss get pummeled started charging at the two. Luffy yelled down at the others.

"GUYS! CATCH NAMI! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THESE BASTARDS!"

The others were still frozen in shock, but slowly raised their hands in salute and muttered, "Aye."

Luffy grabbed Nami.

"You're going to be fine. They'll catch you. 'Kay?"

Nami nodded sharply.

"Ok..."

Luffy grinned and tossed Nami off the top of the waterfall. Zoro narrowed his eyes at the still frozen Sanji and Usopp and grunted. Then he jumped up in the air and caught Nami, landing in the warm water below.

After Luffy tossed her, he turned toward the charging Animal men. He bit down on his thumb, announcing..

"Gear Third!"

His arm inflated and the giant fist barreled toward the surprised animals.

"GIGANTI PISTOL!"

As you could probably imagine, all of the animals got pummeled and soon the top of the fall was littered with unconscious animals.

Luffy returned back to normal and rocketed back down to earth.

Once he returned to everyone, Sanji and Usopp finally unfroze. They stared at Luffy, who was checking to see if Nami was alright.

"Captain, you know that this isn't the end of this, right?"

Luffy nodded at Zoro's remark and stood up, relaxing a bit. Suddenly, Sanji ran toward Luffy and throttled him by the shoulders.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY BACK THERE!? I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!"

He stopped and a very dizzy Luffy fell to the ground with bluebirds fluttering around him. Sanji glared lovingly at Nami, trying to hold a nosebleed because of her outfit.

"He was just kidding around back there Nami! Don't take that seriously! He's just an idiot!"

"Actually, Sanji..." Nami started once she caught her breath. "He wasn't kidding..."

Sanji froze once again, and Usopp started running around in circles, chanting "The world is crumbling!" over and over. Zoro sighed and laid down on the grass.

"Whatever, I don't really care what you two do. If it makes Love Cook quiet, I support it..."

Nami smiled and picked the still dizzy Luffy up. She hugged him, which woke him up and he grinned. She starting crying.

"Thank you..."

Luffy laughed and pushed her off. Nami laughed with him.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"

An on-fire Sanji appeared behind Luffy and he turned around.

"Ah! Sanji! We need to have a banquet! I'm hungry!"

Sanji's fire-aura flared and he lifted up his leg. Nami facepalmed and stepped in front of him. Sanji's aura instantly dissipated and his eyes turned to hearts.

"Nami-Swan! I'm a MUCH better candidate than that shitty idiot, right?!"

Nami made herself look hot and said,

"But you want me to be happy, right Sanji-Kun?"

Sanji fell to the ground in happiness.

"Yes! Do whatever you want Nami-SWAAAAAN!'

Nami laughed.

"We should probably head back, eh?"

Luffy nodded.

"Yep! I'm hungry!"

Nami smiled, then remembered something.

"Crap...I forgot my Clima-Tact..."

Then she realized that the cat-man, (Named Fluffy?) wasn't out during the whole scenario, so she just dismissed it for now.

"Eh, I'll get it later."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"NAMI!"

"Miss Navigator!"

Nami-San!"

"Nami!

The four Straw-Hats who were left behind were elated to see Nami safe and sound next to the others. Chopper ran up giggling and hugged her leg. Everyone wanted to hear what happened, and so Nami explained in great detail, after Usopp's side of it included him beating up Teddy and saving the day. Franky and Brook had their reactions about Luffy and Nami, but they supported it, and now everyone in the crew knew. Sanji was pouting in an emo corner, which everyone ignored.

"So, Luffy. What's next?"

Luffy looked up from a giant plate of meat that Nami made Sanji cook.

"Uh...Is Sunny fixed yet Franky?"

"Not yet. Those cannons really busted him up, but don't worry! I'll fix him up so he's even more SUPAH than before!"

Everyone cheered and clinked their glasses together with a "KANPAI!" and laughed gleefully over their victory.

**Yay! Things happened! I got it done!**

**So yeah, I apologize once again. I will TRY to get the next Chappie up in the next two or three days. I'll try to get back into the cutsey romance stuff since it is a LuNa after all...**

**DON'T HATE ME IF THIS CHAPTER SUCKED! DX**


	11. Luffy Planet

**I know...I know...That last chapter sucked...But I had just gone from no technology WHATSOEVER to speed-writing a super scene, so I apologize, I won't screw up again! *sweatdrop***

That night Nami lay awake on her bed. Thousands of pesky little questions buzzed through her mind. What did that bear man mean? How was the crew able to adapt to Luffy and her so quickly? Could it have really been that easy?

That last one really bugged her. How could they have been beaten up so badly, only to just knock them all out like nothing? And that bear was tough...She knew he couldn't have been defeated just like that. She sighed and sat up. Amongst all the trouble with the animal men, the situation between her and Luffy flustered her.

_"I will never hurt you Nami..."_

_ "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY GIRLFRIEND!'_

Nami couldn't understand. She knew that she loved Luffy, and that he loved her back in his little Luffy way, but at times like this Nami realized how WRONG it was. She was DISTURBED by it.

But...Nami groaned in frustration and ran her fingers through her hair.

"This is something that violence and money can't solve..." She muttered to herself.

Finally, she couldn't take sitting and trying to sleep anymore. She tied on her fluffy robe and crawled out of her tent, trying to not wake the other tents up. She grabbed the book that she hadn't picked up for a while, _"All you need to learn about Romance."_ and headed toward the dying embers of the fire.

She jumped a little at the sight of another figure sitting next to it. It had to be Luffy, she sighed. Just when I was trying to relax...

Then Nami noticed his position. He had his fixed-up hat downed over his face so only his mouth was visible, but it was pulled into a frown. He was sitting stiffly, with his arms crossed. He didn't move. She didn't even think that he even noticed she was there.

She sat down and tried to read her book, but she kept getting distracted by his demeanor. Was he thinking? What could an idiot like him think about this time of night? He still hadn't noticed her. She finally gave up on the book and scooted over next to him.

"Hi Nami."

Nami jolted at his sudden remark, but made an evil face.

"You know, you owe me for blurting that "Girlfriend" crap out without permission from me first..."

Luffy uncrossed his arms and looked at Nami with a pouty face.

"Aw, Nami, you KNOW I'm broke!"

Nami laughed and they both looked back at the dying fire. They sat there quietly for a while.

"What are you thinking about Luffy?"

"Huh?" Luffy broke out of his gaze and stared at Nami quizzically.

"What's on your mind?"

Luffy smiled and stretched out his legs in front of him in a relaxed position. He looked wistful.

"Oh, just stuff I guess."

Nami's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"What stuff?"

"Oh, just stuff. Like meat, or adventures. Stuff like that."

"Oh." Nami was disappointed with his lame response. Then Luffy's eyes saddened a little, though his smile was still plastered on his face.

"But..." He glanced at Nami. "Lately I've just been confused about stuff. Like all the weird mystery feelings; they really bother me for some reason. It makes me feel hot and sweaty and..." His eyes shadowed under his eyes suddenly, losing the happiness that he had just had.

"Ever since Chopper talked to me, (Though I didn't understand a single word he was saying) I've have been suddenly feeling things that involve you getting hurt...and I hate it. I don't want you to ever get hurt!"

Luffy was panicking now. Nami was put off by his behavior, and didn't quite understand why everything was affecting him so hard. Suddenly, she realized what he was feeling. Her eyes widened in shock and horror and she fell over backwards. Luffy stopped and snapped toward her alert.

"Nami?! Did I scare you? Or hurt you? Or poison you?"

"No, I-I'm fine..." This was going too far. This was Luffy they were talking about; he couldn't...

"Nami."

She looked up at him oddly.

'What?"

"Something else happened too, that I'm, you know, thinking about..."

"What?

"Sanji's not talking to me." He said tortly. Nami's eyes widened in surprise and she grabbed Luffy's shoulders, forgetting the recent shock.

"What! He's not!? What happened!?"

Luffy glared at her, uneasily rageful. She made a sound in her throat and let go of his shoulders.

"Ever since dinner, every time I try to talk to him, or do something, he just gives me a dirty look and gets away from me. It's making me really mad, and makes me feel like shit."

Nami sighed.

"He's just jealous, Luffy. You don't understand yet, but he's probably taking all the weird stuff really hard right now. You know how he is."

Luffy didn't seem convinced, but nodded. He stared back into the fire. Nami cocked her head in sympathy. This wasn't like him; he shouldn't be so reserved and stressed like this.

"Oi, do you want to see something cool?" He said suddenly.

Luffy looked at her with the corner of his eyes and lifted his hat up with his index finger. Nami nodded and he smiled.

"Lie down real quick."

Nami raised her eyebrows and laid on her back, while Luffy did they same, putting his hands behind him. He just lay there, silently grinning to himself.

"What is it?" Nami finally asked. Luffy pointed his hand at the star-filled sky.

"That." He opened his hand and turned it toward him, looking at it in fascination.

"The stars?"

"Sometimes I pretend that all the stars are planets, and that one of them is a really awesome planet where everything is made of meat and I'm the king of it." He closed his hand as if trying to grasp the stars. "A place where there are no bastards and dishonor, only fun and music and food. A place where everyone is happy."

Luffy flopped his arm back down to his side and grinned with a "Hee!" Nami just stared at him with an agape mouth. So this is what Luffy thinks about?

"So, a Luffy Planet?"

"Yeah, a Luffy Planet."

"That's what it's called?"

"Luffy Planet."

"It's called Luffy Planet?!"

"Yep."

"Not some sort of cooler sounding name?"

"Are you saying my name isn't cool sounding?"

"No! I mean the planet you idiot!"

"You mean Luffy Planet?"

"Yes!"

"Luffy Planet isn't cool sounding?"

"Not really."

"So...Cool Sounding is a Luffy Planet!?"

"..."

"And I'm a cool planet sounding!"

"..."

"..."

Luffy laughed heartily and Nami's eyes were spirals from the mind-bending Luffy Logic. Once she had recovered she sat up and grabbed her book.

"I'm going to go try to sleep Luffy."

Luffy pouted and propped himself on his elbow.

"Why can't you sleep here? It's funner!"

"I don't think that's a word...And it would be a bit weird don't you think?"

"No...what's so weird about sleeping outside together after having a close conversation with a Nakama that everybody knows are couples?"

Nami gave Luffy a "really?" face and turned toward her tent.

"You really are an idiot aren't you?"

"But yet you still have that "love" thingy for me..."

Nami's cheeks turned pink and she coughed.

"Yeah, because you're Luffy."

"Of course I'm Luffy!"

Nami spun back around and crouched in front of him.

"Look. I do "love" you...though it's really weird for both of us. But let's slow it down a bit, 'kay?"

Luffy nodded and sat up. He waved and stared at the embers again. Nami sighed again and crawled back into her tent, falling asleep.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**The Next Morning**

Robin was smiling mischievously in her lawn chair, pretending to read a book. She giggled, looked up, and called out.

"Mr. Cook! I'm craving a bit of poetry today."

Almost instantly, Sanji came barreling out of the of his tent with a parade of hearts following him. He spun toward her seat and bowed, holding out a piece of paper with some lovey-dovey poetry decorated with hearts and flowers. Robin read it and giggled to herself.

"It's quite lovely, Sanji-San..."

Sanji melted at hearing her call him "Sanji-San" and gave out a "ROBIN-CHWAAAAN!" Before spinning back into the tent.

Robin looked around and pulled out a plain white envelope, stuck the poem inside, and closed it.

"Mr. Cook?"

"YES MY BELOVED!?" Shouted Sanji as he barreled once again, with the same hearts parading once again.

Robin put on a serious face and handed the unsuspicious-looking envelope to Sanji.

"Can you give this to Zoro over there? It's a list of weight-training tips. I brewed coffee and I just got comfy."

"NO PROBLEM MY SWEET FLOWER!" Burst Sanji and he spun toward Zoro, who was still sleeping inside his tent. Sanji coughed and handed the envelope to him.

"What are YOU doing here Love Cook?"

"Just delivering an envelope, that's all."

Sanji walked out and barely made it to the outside when a "WHAT THE HELL!?" Came from Zoro. He crawled out and started yelling at Sanji.

"What's wrong you shitty marimo? Pull a muscle?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"WHY'D YOU GIVE ME A LOVE POEM?!"

Sanji's eyes narrowed.

"I DIDN'T GIVE YOU A FREAKING LOVE POEM YOU DUMBASS!"

"THEN WHAT DO YOU CALL THIS!?"

Sanji grabbed at the paper and read it.

_"My dearest love,_

_ Your love is here to stay,_

_ You must be a pirate,_

_ Because you stole my heart away,_

_ Your charming smile,_

_ Opened the door to my heart,_

_ And you are so sweet,_

_ You could be a cherry tart._

_ Your charming prince,_

_ Sanji."_

Sanji turned toward Robin, who was looking at them with a poker face, and a thought bubble of Sanji and Zoro surrounded by flowers again.

"What is WRONG with you woman!?" Shouted Zoro.

"The shitty marimo could never compare to you Robin!"

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!"

"WHAT NOW!?"

"DON'T SAY IT THAT WAY! IT SOUNDS WRONG!"

"THAT'S CAUSE YOU'RE A FAG!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A FAG, FAG?!" 

"I'M NOT A FAG!"

"You two look cute together..." Said Robin calmly.

"NO WE DON'T!" The two shouted in unison. They looked at each other in embarrassment and Robin giggled.

"What's with all the racket!?" Shouted Nami as she crawled out of her tent. Sanji snapped out of the awkward position and spun toward Nami.

"I wrote you a poem too Nami-Swan!"

"The poem wasn't even that good..." Muttered Zoro angerly.

About an hour later, everyone had woken up and were huddled around the table waiting for breakfast. Soon everyone had dug in, except...

"Oi, Sanji-Kun. Where's Luffy's plate?"

Everyone looked up at Nami's question and glanced at Luffy, who was tilting back in his chair with his eyes hooded and a frown. Sanji didn't even look back.

"I ran out of supplies..." Replied Sanji and he left the table to his tent.

Everyone turned back to Luffy, who had stood up and walked in the direction of the waterfall.

"What happened there?" Said Usopp.

"How could Sanji do such a thing!?" Chopper sniffed.

"What a shithead..." Added Zoro.

Nami gained an angry expression and stood up so suddenly that her cup tipped over.

"So THAT'S what he was talking about!" She muttered, and she stormed off in the same direction as Luffy.

The other strawhats stared at each other, then went back to eating.

"It's none of my business."

"I don't have the brain to comfort Luffy-San..."

"Can't let the food go cold..."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Luffy!" Nami shouted in the direction. She ran toward the waterfall and saw him.

"Thank god." She muttered and walked toward him, however, he was bent over something. She stepped closer and saw he was crouched in front of two unconscious boys, about eight, who looked beat up and bloody. She stopped for a moment, then hurried back to get Chopper.

** Hopefully this chapter was better. Not a whole lot of action but...meh. I enjoyed reading this a bit more! (Robin ships ZoSan huehuehue **¬､¬ **)**

** So yeah, hopefully this one was better, and not sucky like the last one! BYEZ! PLEASE REVIEW FEEDBACK!**


	12. Brothers, Slaves, and Bears

**Yo!**

**I'm REALLY glad to see that everyone thought the last chapter was much better! (I myself actually ENJOYED writing it) And I got so many really awesome reviews and PMS about it! THANKS SO MUCH YA GUYS! *cries***

**Anyway, just for future referenceee, I'mma have two OC's introduced in this chappie (And they are NOT animal men in case you're wondering!) I hope you like them, and I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one!**

**P.S BEWARE OF PLOT TWISTS!**

* * *

"Oi...Are they dead?"

Everyone was gathered around the two beaten boys while Chopper was treating them. They all inched closer and closer until Chopper popped an irk mark and yelled at them to step back.

Luffy cocked his head confused. He noticed that they had tall red hair with colorful beads intertwined that fanned straight up from their heads. It reminded Luffy of a tassel.

"Their hair is funny looking!" He laughed maniacally as Nami and Usopp hit him over the head.

"JERK!"

Along with the tassel-like hair, there was one small teeny-tiny little detail that made them different from normal, average boys...They both looked exactly the same!

"Oi! They're awake!"

The two identical boys shot up at the same time and saluted.

"WE ARE PERFECTLY FINE TEDDY-SAMA-SAN! WE SHALL RETURN TO WORK!"

Everyone made a surprised noise in their throat and the two boys looked around, noticing they were around strange people.

"Huh?"

Chopper sat in front of them with a giggle.

"How are you two feeling?" A cute little blush appeared on his smiling face. The boys sweatdropped.

"AAAAAAHHHH! IT'S AN ANIMAL-MAN!"

Chopper screamed.

"WHERE!?"

"Idiot!" Nami yelled as she punted Chopper away from the boys. He went sailing into a tree.

"Eh!?" The boys had a half-scared half-confused look on their faces as they turned toward Nami. Luffy sneaked behind them and poked their hair.

"WOW! It IS just like a tassel!" He swooned. The boys screamed again and Usopp kicked him away this time.

"Geez! Don't these morons have ANY sympathy?!" Nami sighed.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Listen, we aren't bad guys. We hate the animal-guys too." Nami coaxed.

The boys relaxed a little and drank some milk that Brook oh-so-generously provided. Chopper had returned sniffling and Luffy was back to poking their hair.

"So...Who might you little ones be?" Robin asked kindly.

"I AM ARSEN-_ISEN!"_ Announced one.

"I AM ARLEN-_HISEN_!" Announced the other.

"WE BOTH ARE BROTHERS WHO WORK FOR TEDDY-SAMA-SAN!" Announced them in unison.

Then they fainted. Everyone grew shark teeth and shouted. "YOU PASSED OUT!?"

Once they woke back up, Luffy crossed his arms menacingly.

"So...You two tassel-heads work for the bear-guy, eh?"

Arsen and Arlen screamed in fright and hugged each other.

"NO! I MEAN-YES! WE DON'T **WANT **TO! "

Luffy raised his eyebrows and his eyes shadowed.

"So...you're saying..."

Everyone looked toward him cautiously. Usopp and Chopper hid behind Robin.

"YOU BOTH ARE COOKS!?" He shouted with sparkles coming from his eyes. Nami shouted at him.

"HOW DID YOU GET "COOK" FROM THAT?!"

"He hasn't had his breakfast yet..." Remarked Robin.

"My brother and I lived peacefully with out parents before we came here..." Started Arsen. "Then we were kidnapped by Teddy-Sama-San and we became his slaves-_isen."_

"Slaves eh?" Zoro sat stiffly. "Like the fish-men?"

"And Hammock." Added Luffy.

"Who?"

"Anyway." Interrupted Arlen. Then his eyes widened and started begging. "PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR INTERUPTING PIRATE-SAMAS!" Then he passed out.

"AGAIN!?"

Arsen looked this way and that, as if expecting to get hit for his brother's wrong-doing. Nami frowned in sympathy and patted the boy's shoulder.

"Look. We aren't like those Animal-Bastards, alright?"

Arsen nodded and picked his now awake brother up. Luffy just sat silently.

"We could give a little info on Teddy-Sama-San if you pirates want..." Said Arlen softly. "We don't like them. And you are the first visitors of this island for a long time-_Hisen_."

"Really!?" Everyone looked at each other with odd expressions. "But the island is so big!"

"The visitors see it." Arsen added. "They just get sunk by the animal-men. Their sharp-shooters are extremely accurate; they were made that way..."

"Wait, what?" Franky cocked his head. "Made?"

"Aa! Most of the animals were either made or enhanced with special injections!" They stated in unison. "Teddy-Sama-San and his family were the only animal-men left in the world. So Teddy-Sama-San and his sons spent many years kidnapping helpless humans and morphing them with animals to recreate his race."

Everyone's mouth opened in shock. "How is that even possible!?" Thought Franky. Arsen and Arlen looked down, shuddering.

"We were spared. Five years ago, our family had been trying to find a new home. But, our passenger ship sunk from the cannons and our whole family had been taken prisoner." Arlen clenched his fists. "Our parents were used for the morphing, but Arsen and I were too young. They used us as slaves instead."

Nami put her hand over her mouth. How awful! These two boys have been through hell. They couldn't have been for then five when that happened!

"But." Arsen sniffed. "Baby Bear-Chan took to liking us. He was Teddy-Sama-San's youngest son. He wasn't a baby though. That was just his name. Then he had a big argument with Teddy-Sama-San and he ended up leaving the island. We don't really know why or how. Ever since then, we've only had each other."

"The last thing he said was something about 'pirates' and 'drawing a map.' But we were so young back then we don't remember."

Once they had finished, things were silent for a long time. Luffy took off his hat and stared at the boys.

"Listen, Tassel-Hairs." They looked up at him nervously. "I am sick and tired of hearing about all this 'Slave' bull-shit everywhere."

Everyone stared at Luffy in shock. "Luffy!?" He stood up, leaving his hat on the ground.

"I guess I just can't understand..." He clenched his fist.

"WHY PEOPLE THINK IT'S ALRIGHT TO OWN A LIVING BEING!"

The boys gasped in wonder and began to tear up. The others relaxed and Nami chuckled.

"There's my Luffy!" She thought.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Oi. Nami."

It was now the middle of the day. Luffy, Usopp, and the boys were playing some weird game and Nami was sitting in the grass, watching Franky fix the Sunny. She turned back and saw Chopper.

"Chopper! What's wrong?"

Chopper plopped on the grass with a 'plip' and sighed.

"Sanji still hasn't come back."

"I know."

Chopper stared up at her.

"What happened?'

"Nothing Chopper...He's just being a five-year-old. He'll be back."

Chopper wiggled his nose. Nami smiled and pet him on the head.

"You worry so much. Let me do the worrying, 'kay?"

"Aa." He replied. Nami smiled as Chopper left to join Luffy and everyone. Nami turned back toward the Sunny.

"A young bear..."

"Drawing a map..."

"Pirate..."

Suddenly, her eyes widened. She stood up and rushed back to the campsite.

"It can't be him!"

Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and the boys stopped when Nami rushed toward them. They all cocked their heads in unison.

"Nami?" Luffy asked.

"Arsen! Arlen!" Nami panted. "What did you say Teddy's son was named?"

"Well, he's got three. Big Bear, Little Bear, and Baby Bear."

"The one who befriended you!"

"That was Baby Bear-Chan!"

"Did he have any other names?"

Arsen and Arlen looked at each other oddly. Then looked back.

"Well, those were just their nick-names. Their real names were Bison, Billow, and Bepo..."

Nami gasped and grabbed Arsen's shoulder.

"Was that Baby Bear's real name?" She shouted. "HIS NAME WAS BEPO?!"

The strawhat's jaws dropped open and Usopp fell over in shock.

"BEPO?!"

The two boys screamed and hugged each other.

"W-was that the wrong answer? Did we say something wrong!?"

A question mark popped out of Luffy's head.

"Who's Bepo?"

"REMEMBER!? THE BEAR FROM LAW'S CREW?"

Luffy's head jolted up and he grinned.

"Oh yeah! Trafoa's weak bear-guy!" He started laughing. Everyone sweatdropped.

"He isn't fazed by anything, is he?"

"You guys know Baby Bear-Chan?" Arsen and Arlen looked up at Nami amazed. She chuckled.

"Let's just say he's on a friend of our's crew."

"Like a PIRATE CREW!?"

Nami nodded. "Yep!"

Sparkles appeared in their eyes and they jumped up.

"AWESOME! BABY BEAR-CHAN!"

Then they passed out again.

"DO YOU TWO NEED MEDICAL HELP OR SOMETHING!?"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

** Evening**

"Geez. Sanji's still not back yet..."

Everyone was lying around with their tongues out. The echo of growling stomachs could be arranged into a melody. Nami pinched her nose.

"I knew that Sanji would be jealous...But I never thought that he'd go so far as to let someone go hungry!"

Sanji would never let ANYONE go hungry. Even his worst enemy! Nami closed her eyes. Either he's so angry that he lost his honor, or he's in trouble. But...he did refuse to give Luffy food. Maybe his honor HAD been shot. She shook her head. What an idiot!

Then she suddenly stood up and stomped toward the portable stove (Made from a heat dial) she rummaged through Sanji's tent and grabbed some ingredients from inside. Then she pulled out a giant pot and threw everything in.

"Hah! You don't have to be a cook to make a stew!"

At the smell of the stew, everyone perked up and ran to the picnic table with their spoons out. As she was stirring she yelled. "IT'LL TAKE A SECOND YOU SAVAGES!"

Once the stew was done she poured it out in all of their bowls and sat down to eat. It wasn't all that bad. Of course it would never come CLOSE to Sanji's, but at least it was edible. Everyone slurped it down.

NAMI! Can I have more!?"

Nami was about to shout NO to Luffy, but then she saw him, puppy-dog eyes and a pouty frown. She sighed and smiled.

"Sure."

He wooped happily and sat back down, waiting.

"Hey! I want some more too!"

"Shut your mouth!"

Arlen and Arsen laughed at them all, then looked at each other.

"It's been five years since we've been this happy-_hisen_."

Arlen sniffed and nodded.

"It feels really good!"

They both laughed and finished their meal happily.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Night**

"Nami..."

"Luffy? What are you doing up so late?!"

"I can't sleep...I'm having weird dreams..."

"Weird...dreams?"

"What's that stuff Robin uses to stay awake?"

"Coffee? But-"

"I need to drink it..."

"Wha-Why?"

"So I can't sleep..."

"Luffy?"

"I'm getting it..."

"LUFFY WAIT! YOU CAN'T DRINK COFFEE!"

**Gah! Yet ANOTHER not romance chapter! Oh well, I DID have to set up that plot twist...(Bepo...Bet you didn't expect that...)**

**But never fear...The next chapter or two will be PURELY romance. Some things I've been dancing around shall come into play, so, LOOK FORWARD TO LUNA FINALLY! *passes out like the brothers***

**Readers: SHE PASSED OUT?!**

"


	13. Jealousy Conquers Even the Honorable

** Alright, I promise this chapter will be PURELY romance. However, don't expect "Cutesy" stuff. Like I said, some things will come into play that I've been dancing around for a while... **

** SPOILERS ASIDE! I hope you enjoy...I hope it doesn't suck...And I hope other stuff too!**

** NOTE: This fic will not contain ANY "M rated" content. The farthest that I will go will be that *koff koff * be SLIGHTLY hinted at happening. (MAYBE! Don't expect it. And if so, not anytime soon.) So any romance scenes that seem fishy, just know that it's clean! :)**

"LUFFY! HOLD UP!" Nami ran after Luffy flummoxed. All she knew was that it was dangerous for Luffy to drink coffee. He may become too energetic and crazy for his body! Once she caught up to him, she tackled him to the ground, causing them both to tumble over each other.

"I said WAIT you idiot!"

Luffy opened his eyes and saw Nami on top of him, pinning him down so he couldn't escape. Nami noticed his eyes flash for a minute, then he yelled.

"GET OFF OF ME!"

Nami was startled by his sudden shout and fell off of him. Luffy sat up and started pounding his head with his palm violently. Nami stared at him for a moment then she grabbed his arm.

"What's WRONG with you tonight Luffy!?"

Luffy yanked his arm away and ran his fingers through his hair. He was panting heavily, and had an alert look in his eyes. Nami inched her hand closer to his shoulder.

"Don't." He said sharply. Nami withdrawed her hand and just watched Luffy slowly calm himself down. Once his panting slowed she tried again.

"What happened?"

"Weird...feeling..." Was all he said.

"Look. We can get Chopper to help if you are more specific! What are you talking about!?"

Luffy didn't answer. He looked back up at Nami and his eyes flashed again. Then he started chanting "No!" over and over and started hitting his head again. Then he stopped and looked at the ground thoughtfully. Nami then understood.

"Luffy..." She began. "What did Chopper tell you?"

Luffy kept panting, then answered.

"He went on a long rant about his horns..."

Nami groaned at his stupidity and sighed.

"He wasn't talking about his horns, you idiot."

"Huh?" Luffy cocked his head. "He definitely said something about horns!"

"Luffy, the feeling you're feeling...It's called being 'Horny.'"

A question mark popped out of his head and he cocked his head the other way.

"I'm growing horns?"

"NO!" She rolled her eyes. "Nevermind...But just know that, I know what's going on."

He sighed in relief and lowered his eyes.

"I don't get it. My body is saying to hurt you...I have to literally fight myself so that I won't! Why? I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU!"

The last part he was mostly saying to himself. Nami was saddened at seeing him opposed to his own body this much.

"Nami! You KNOW that I don't want to hurt you! Right?" He began panting again.

"Of course! Calm down please! Luffy?" Nami noticed that Luffy got up and started toward a water bucket full of sea water. He stuck his head in.

"Luffy!?" She ran over and yanked his head out. The sea water splashed everywhere, and Nami was impressed that no one had woken up yet.

"Luffy." She coaxed. "Calm down. Calm yourself. Alright?"

He nodded, still sputtering out water. Nami let him go and he kneeled on the ground, catching his breath. She had never seen him this way before.

"Nami..."

"What?"

"Get away from me, please." He begged. Nami shook her head.

"No. I'm staying. I'll go wake up Chopper."

"Please."

Nami froze and looked at him. He looked so tired and worn, like he had just fought a powerful enemy.

"Luffy-"

"I-I can't..."

She watched alertly as he stood up and started walking toward her.

"Luffy...Look. Calm yourself. I'll get Chopper; he'll know how to calm you do-"

"Chopper can't fix it...I don't know..." He stopped in front of her, still panting. "I know that you're the one who causes it..."

"Then leave then!" She began to feel uncomfortable. "L-look! If you don't leave I'm going to beat the crap out of you!"

"I can't..." He repeated. He reached his arm out a gripped her shoulder. Nami looked at him confused and a bit frightened at the same time.

"Let go please." She said. Luffy looked at her with a sympathetic expression.

"My body won't move..."

"Try!" She snapped.

"I am!" He snapped back weakly. Then he let go of her shoulder and hugged her suddenly. Nami was surprised at the gesture, and didn't hug back.

"O-oi...Let go of me!" His head peeked up.

"If I let go you will beat me up."

"You think!?" She snapped comically. Nami calmed and just then realized how warm his grip felt. She swallowed, then she hugged him back hesitantly, which made Luffy smile. His panting slowed and he returned to his normal color.

"This feels good..." He said softly. Nami smiled a little bit, happy that her captain had finally calmed down. They stayed that way for a long while before Nami let go.

"Alright. Are you finally satisfied?"

Luffy stepped closer to her and inched his head closer to hers. She could feel his heavy breaths on her cheeks.

"Luffy?"

"I'm sorry Nami..." He said. "I-I just don't think I can fight anymore..."

She stared in expressionless shock into his eyes as he leaned in. She kept her mouth closed. He stopped and looked at her, displeased with himself. He looked away, regaining his head.

"I'm sorry...I'll go now..."

She still just looked at him. Then, unexpectedly, she went for the kiss, stopping Luffy in his tracks.

If it makes him feel better, I don't care...She thought. She felt Luffy's cheeks grow hotter and she smiled a bit. That idiot, why does he have to be so hesitant about this? After a moment she let go and grinned. Luffy's eyes darted back and forth.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked uncertainty.

"Not at all." Nami replied.

He breathed out in relief. They stared at each other for a while, before Luffy sniffed.

"You smell like stew..."

"You HAD to ruin the moment, didn't you..." Nami said with unnormal calmness.

"You do." He said.

"Well I did cook it after all..."

He grinned and laughed.

"Of course you did!" Luffy seemed back to normal, Nami was a bit put off by this. Did the kiss chase it away? It seemed that was what happened. She laughed along with him in relief. Then Luffy said something out of the blue.

"Can I sit on you again?"

Nami looked at him oddly.

"You mean like when you were hurt?"

"Yeah! That thingymadiggy!"

She chuckled to herself and sat down cross-legged on the grass. Luffy whooped in happiness and plopped down on her lap happily. Nami's ears grew pinkish when he gently lay his head on her shoulder. She looked away.

"Oi! Stop moving!"

Nami narrowed her eyes and barked back.

"I'm only human you idiot!"

Luffy looked at Nami from her shoulder with a pouty expression. Then he laughed with a "Shishishi!" and lay his head back down. Nami smiled warmly and looked down. She started thinking about what happened earlier.

_"I'm sorry Nami, I don't think I can fight anymore.."_

She winced at the thought. She couldn't imagine Luffy like that, not at all. It scared her just thinking about it. Then she noticed something out of the ordinary. His ever un-buttoned top was buttoned...

"Luffy?"

"Aa?"

"Why is your shirt buttoned? Don't you normally leave it open?"

"It's nothing..."

Nami looked back down to his top, and inched her hand toward his chest hesitantly. She began to unbutton it like usual, then widened her eyes.

"They still haven't healed?!"

Luffy chest was still heavily bandaged from his first fight with the animal men. Luffy didn't say anything.

"I should've known that no one could have an operation and be fully recover after a couple days!"

She stared at the bandages with a sad expression. Those wounds WERE bad...

Suddenly, Luffy lifted his head so it was facing her. He had a slightly angry expression.

"Look Nami. You worry too much. I'm fine, 'kay? Don't worry about me."

She paused for a moment, then smirked.

"Maybe I wouldn't if you weren't such a mindless idiot."

He grinned and lay his head down once again, grabbing Nami's hand and placing it on his bandaged chest. They stayed like that for a long while, just enjoying each other company in the night. Nami noticed that it had started to lightly rain.

"Odd." She thought. "I didn't feel any rain coming..."

It started to pour quickly, and the two looked at each other oddly. Then, Nami looked up, and her eyes widened in fear and shock.

A flash of lightning passed, and there standing, about five yards away, was Sanji.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sanji was returning back to the camp after a day of thinking. Finally, he had decided that he could deal with it. I mean, it's not like that idiot of a captain knew anything about the fine art of wooing a lady after all! However, when he returned, he saw a sight that made him freeze in his tracks.

The sight of his Captain and his Nami cuddling up close together... His hand holding hers on his chest...

"Sanji!? You're back!" Nami exclaimed. Luffy looked up lazily and saw Sanji.

"Ah. Sanji, where have you been?" He said calmly. Sanji didn't answer and turned his body toward them, body shaking in anger.

"What. Are. You. Doing. To. My. Nami-San?" He said with a deep hatred in his voice that surprised Nami more than it scared her. What was with him? Usually when he was angry he would catch on fire and yell in an almost comical way. But this Sanji...

Luffy let go of Nami's hand and stood up, clenching his fist and shaking with anger also. Nami didn't understand why Luffy was so angry until he spoke.

"YOUR Nami-San?" He repeated. He clenched his fist tighter. He looked up at the cook with a horrific fury in his eyes.

"DID YOU JUST SAY _YOUR _NAMI, SANJI!?" He shouted. Sanji flinched a bit at his shout, then pulled out a cigarette. Luffy gritted his teeth.

"After all of the slaves we have encountered, the Celestial Dragon I punched for treating beings like shit. After ARLONG called her an OBJECT!" He paused to gather his thoughts and to calm a bit.

"You think that it's alright to claim Nami as yours?!"

Sanji puffed his cigarette and looked at Luffy with equal fury.

"Are you saying that I think of Nami-San as an object?" He asked with dangerous calmness.

"I'M SAYING THAT YOU'RE A SELFISH ASS WHO DOESN'T ALLOW ANYONE ELSE TO LOVE WOMEN!" He screamed with conviction.

Nami put her hand over her mouth in horror. Seeing them fight like this...over her...

"Listen, _Captain._" He spat. "I may be a hopeless romantic for lovely ladies..." He took out his cigarette. "But I am not a selfish ass."

Luffy's eyes shadowed under his hat.

"When I told you that I met Hancock when we were separated, the first thing you did was complain about how lucky I was. When we met Yowahoshi, same deal. Even with women you've never met, you won't let anyone else allowed near them..." He smirked with bitter sarcasm. "Because you're so special, right? Sanji? No one could ever compare to your love poems, or your sweet metaphors. Right?"

Sanji placed his cigarette back in and grabbed Luffy by the collar.

"Says you!?" He yelled in his face. "Who's the one who always saves the day?! Who's the one that always gets praised?! Is it me? No. It's you. So I guess my question is...WHY ARE YOU SO SPECIAL?! HUH? LUFFY? WHY IS IT THAT YOU GET ALL THE CREDIT FOR EVERYTHING?!"

"Let go of me right now." Luffy said with deathly silence. Nami heard faint sniffling in the background and saw the others, including Arlen and Arsen, watching with wide alert eyes from the flaps of their tents. The sniffling was coming from Chopper.

Sanji let go violently and adjusted his tie.

"You're calling me selfish for loving women, I'm calling you a arrogant con-artist. We work our shitty asses off for you, and yet everyone only notices YOU when we reach a new island. Better yet, everyone thinks that you are so modest and so caring to your Nakama." Sanji puffed his cigarette one last time, then turned around and dropped it onto the grass.

"Like hell I'm going to follow a captain like that."

Luffy eyes pulsed in guilt, but he hid it and muttered.

"Like hell I'm going to have an ungrateful bastard who only thinks about himself on my crew."

Everyone watched in horror as Sanji stuck his hands in his pockets, and started walking away, stepping on the newly burned cigarette.

"Looks like you're going to have to find a new cook." Was the last thing he said before he disappeared into the mist of the rain.

XXXXXXXXXX

"SANJI!" Chopper screamed as he started running toward the direction. Franky stopped him and he struggled, turning into his heavy point. He was sobbing as he ran to where Luffy and a crying Nami was and he heard Zoro.

"Stop." Was all he said. Chopper froze and turned back to his Mini-point, and started crying his eyes out. Brook was strangely silent, along with Zoro, while Robin and Franky looked at each other with pained eyes. Usopp wiped his eyes, then shouted at Luffy.

"OI! Are you just going to let him leave!? After those grueling two years!? Luffy?!"

"Shut up dammit." He choked, trying to mask his pain with strength. Then he walked toward the half-fixed Sunny and rocketed in without a word. Usopp winced, then remembered when he left the crew; how awful and lonely it was. He tightened his fist and ran towards the direction where Sanji left.

Arsen and Arlen watched this whole episode in confusion.

"Was that the cook-guy they were talking about-_isen_?" asked Arsen.

"I don't know." Arlen retorted. "But they don't seem very happy now, do they?"

"Aye."

****Holy crap! Even I didn't expect that when I started writing! I guess that there was more drama than romance here, but still... IT PAINED ME TO WRITE THIS GUYS! *pets self on shoulder*****

****So, yet again, please review with your thoughts, if you hate the idea of Mr. Curly-Brow leaving. (Sanji's actually one of my favorite characters!) Or if you want to see more romance (Yeah yeah, it'll happen) Or if it shocked you that Luffy is getting them feelings (winky wink)****

****Also, side note: The chapters will start to get much longer so that I can cut down on the number of chapters so it doesn't look like a f-ing novel. ENJOY! :)****


	14. The Empty Hole

**Yay! I found some time to publish the next chapter! I'm not sure how good it will be, but I've been overloaded lately. Anyway, I hope it's satisfactory!**

* * *

"Sanji!" Usopp screamed as he reached the nonchalant Sanji. He grabbed his shoulder forcefully and turned him around.

"What the hell was that all about!? After two years of training for him!? Why are you leaving Sanji?!"

"Get off of me." He said and he pushed him violently to the ground. Usopp looked up at him with tearful eyes, while Sanji looked back angerly.

"I'm not your Nakama anymore Usopp. Go away. I'm done with that shitty bastard." Usopp watched him turn away. What happened? After all this time? Usopp tried to hold back sadness. Flashbacks of when he left the crew...

"IT'S LONELY!" He shouted with high emotion. "YOU'LL HAVE AN EMPTY HOLE IN YOUR SOUL THAT WON'T GO AWAY SANJI!" He began to cry.

"It's not worth it...Believe me I know..." Sanji winced a little, then kept walking.

"I'm not like you Usopp.." Was all he said.

Suddenly, a large, bear-like silhouette appeared ion front of the two. The last thing they saw before they slipped into darkness was a giant white paw, then silence.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Nobody slept that night. Eight bloodshot eyes stared at the ceiling of a tent for the remainder of the night. The only one who did anything different was a defeated Luffy, who had stopped his silent tears hours ago and just sat on his hammock in the Sunny, staring into the open mouth of his hat.

The next morning was just as silent. Nami threw together another stew, (Which everyone half-heartily ate) and Luffy did not move from his spot.

Nami was worried about him. He hadn't come down for breakfast. She swallowed, filled up the biggest bowl with the sloshy, mediocre dish, and boarded the Sunny with it.

She walked into the men's quarters and saw Luffy, still staring at his hat with a pained expression. His shirt was off, though it was covered from shoulder to thigh by the bandages. He had his knees up to his chin, his head resting on it gently. He seemed lost in his own head.

"Luffy." Nami said softly as she stepped closer to him. She stuck the bowl next to him gently, but he just faintly shook his head. She frowned in sympathy and placed the bowl on the floor.

"It's not your fault Luffy..." She lowered her eyes. She noticed that Luffy's eyes panged and he turned his head to the other side.

"Idiot.." He whispered, his voice cracking a bit. Nami began to tear up seeing him this way. It was even worse than when Usopp left. Nami paused for a moment, before crawling in the hammock beside him and hugged him lightly from the side.

"It's ok, Luffy. I'm here now. It's ok to cry."

Luffy struggled to keep it in, then he buried his face in his hands, weeping to himself. Nami blinked a tear too and stroked Luffy's soft hair. They stayed there like that for a long time.

"I'm sorry." Luffy said from beneath his hands. "I'm sorry that I'm such an arrogant con-artist. I'm sorry that I'm such a selfish captain..."

Nami stopped stroking his hair and grabbed his arm with sudden force.

"DON'T YOU **EVER** SAY THAT AGAIN LUFFY!" She screamed. Luffy looked at her with surprise, both at himself and Nami's outburst.

"It's NOT your fault Luffy. You are a better captain, a better FRIEND, then any other captain on the seas." She let go of his arm and stared into his eyes.

"It's plain idiotic to apologize for something someone else did!" She added. Luffy stared at her for a moment, before tightning his mouth and placing his hat back on his head.

"You're right, it was idiotic for me to say that." He looked up from under his hat at Nami.

"If Sanji wants to come back, he'll come back. For now let's just wait." She finished. Luffy nodded with an "Aa." Nami smiled sadly and scooted off the hammock.

"Come down and eat in a bit, ok?"

Luffy nodded half-heartily and lay down on the hammock, ready to catch up on the lost sleep.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

That night, everyone was sprawled on the ground and over logs, whining. Nami yelled at them.

"WHAT'S WITH THE GROANS?"

"We're hungry..." Moaned Chopper.

"I'm sick of stew..." Agreed Franky.

"YOU'VE ONLY HAD IT TWICE!"

"I'm so hungry that my stomach has shrunk...oh...but I don't have a sto-"

"BROOK!"

Brook kneeled into a aura of depression.

"Why have my brilliant jokes been getting interrupted so much lately?"

Just then, a loud, obnoxious yawn was heard in the direction of the Sunny. Everyone shot up and saw Luffy shuffling toward them sleepily.

"LUFFY!" Chopper squeaked as he hugged him around the leg. He made a confused sound in his throat and yawned again.

The sleepy Luffy sat next to the fire, along with everyone else. Nami was extremely happy to see him, but frowned when she tried to get him to eat a bit of the old leftover meat, only for him to reject it once again.

"I'll take it!" Pleaded everyone.

"NO! This one is for him you heartless jerks!"

Once Luffy woke up a bit, Nami stood up.

"Alright! First order of business! Arlen! Arsen!"

"AYE NAMI-SAN-SAMA!" They shouted from their tent (Which they were told to stay in for the day)

"Come with us!" She ordered and she motioned for everyone to follow her to the Sunny.

Once they arrived to the kitchen/dining area, everyone gathered around the Den-Den Mushi.

"We need to call Law, maybe Bepo can tell us something useful about his father." Nami hesitated on the word 'father'. Picturing that cowardly bear with a perverted dad like Teddy unnerved her for some reason. Luffy nodded, still not smiling. Robin whispered to Franky.

"Mr. Captain hasn't smiled once since the incident with Sanji, Franky." She noted.

"Aa. I've noticed." He responded.

Nami lifted up the snail and, with nods from the crew and confused glances between the brothers, called for the Heart Pirates.

"Oi..Is this Trafalgar Law?" Asked Nami. Everyone looked at her with alarmed eyes before she laughed.

"Don't worry! This line isn't tapped. I know it!"

"TRY TO BE MORE WARY ABOUT THAT!"

Some fuzz came from the snail's mouth before a growly sounding voice responded.

"Uh...W-who is this?"

"This is the Strawhats. Is Law there?"

"N-no...This is Bepo, and I don't wear a strawhat.."

Nami sighed, then smiled.

"Well. If you answered that just makes it easier. Bepo?"

"W-who is this? THE MARINES!?" Muffled screaming was heard before Nami's eyes turned red.

"NO YOU STUPID BEAR! IT'S LUFFY'S CREW! YOU KNOW! THOSE GUYS?!"

The screaming stopped and a much calmer voice sounded.

"Oh...Hi!"

"Oi. Bepo, we have something to ask you."

Luffy sat on the ground listening to Nami talk with a bored face.

"What?"

"Just wondering...Does the name 'Teddy' ring a bell?"

Dead silence over the line. Then blue squiggly lines appeared over the snail, signaling some depressed thinking on the bear's side. Nami raised her eyebrows and shook the receiver. Then Bepo replied with a shaky voice.

"Ted...dy..." As if talking to himself. Nami became impatient.

"What about 'Arlen' and 'Arsen'? Do you know them?"

Arlen and Arsen rushed to the Den-den Mushi and scrambled for the reciever.

"BABY BEAR-CHAN!"

"IT'S US-_ISEN!_"

"REMEMBER!? BABY BEAR-CHAN?!"

Another pause. Then Bepo replied with a very uncharacteristic serious, yet desperate tone.

"Arsen. H-how are you two holding up with Father Bear?"

"Not so good Baby Bear-Chan! Come back! We miss you!"

"Y-you know I can't do that; Father Bear's too scary and mean."

"But you're his son!"

"He doesn't care about me! He's satisfied with the Big Brothers. He doesn't need a son like his wife!"

"But Big Brothers are the ones who are slowly killing us-_Hisen_!" Stepped in Arlen. The Strawhats were exchanging glances at each others as the two boys begged.

"I can't have any part in the rehabilitation of Animal-Warriors! That's not pirating!"

"But Baby Bear-Chan!"

"I'M A PIRATE! NOT A SWINDLING POWER-GRABBER!" Screamed the now-strong voice of the navigating bear. Arlen and Arsen flinched at the shout, then slowly gave the receiver back to a now genuinely-concerned Nami. She waited, then spoke.

"Bepo." She said with a soft voice. "We are here on the island. We need you to provide information about what your father is doing and what the animal-men are."

"Why?" Snapped Bepo timidly. Nami pursed her lips.

"So we have an even better reason to kick their asses." She smirked. That was something that Luffy would say. It felt good.

The receiver went silent yet again.

"Their?" The snail's eyes widened.

"H-how many Animal-Warriors are there?"

"Probably over one billion."

A slamming noise was heard from the snail, probably a book or a glass dropping. Luffy still sat on the ground, arms crossed and eyes closed, while everyone else was listening with alert eyes.

"One billion?" Bepo repeated.

"Most likely more."

A pause.

"I will call you later. I-I need to think over this for a while..." Was all he said. The snail clicked and everyone didn't move for a moment.

"Well then, let's wait for him to call later!" Nami announced, breaking the silence. Everyone nodded and left the Sunny one by one. Nami, while leaving, stared at the boys firmly.

"Are you two hiding anything from us?"

They hugged each other frightened, then replied.

"W-We've told you everything we know! We didn't even know Baby Bear-Chan was a pirate! We swear!" Then they fainted.

Nami facepalmed and looked toward Luffy. He was still sitting on the floor with his eyes closed and crossed arms. She was disturbed by how serious, yet calm he was. Luffy being calm was always the scariest thing to her. After the whole Sanji thing, and their relationship, and the tension with Teddy-Sama, she didn't even know what he could be thinking about now.

"Definitely not Luffy Planet..." She said to herself sadly and left the boy to himself.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sanji awoke abruptly. He shot up and looked desperately around him. He was in a cell, a small one. The door was tightly sealed. Then he noticed Usopp, still unconscious on the stone floor.

"This was all his fault! I wouldn't have gotten distracted if it weren't for him!"

Then he flinched at his harshness. Well, if he and Luffy wouldn't have fought...He gritted his teeth and rested his hand on his head. That shitty idiot. Look what he'd gone and done now!

But...He looked back at the long-nosed moron. Usopp knew what it was like. What had he said?

_"IT'S LONELY!" _

_ "YOU'LL HAVE AN EMPTY HOLE IN YOUR SOUL THAT WON'T GO AWAY SANJI!"_

He already felt a glimpse of that hole. Was he really being so selfish that it made Luffy shout like that as if he were an enemy?

Usopp began to stir and he saw Sanji in his stressed position. He sat up.

"Sanji?"

The cook looked toward him, trying to maintain his pride.

"What do** you** want you sheep?"

Usopp flinched. That hurt. He sighed and looked at the floor with sad eyes.

"Luffy was right." He began. "You are a selfish ass..."

Sanji made a hurt noise in his throat. Now Usopp, the scaredy cat liar, was calling him that. He looked away and thought.

"Being honorable to women is considered selfish now, eh?" He said. Usopp snapped up his head and grabbed Sanji by the shoulder.

"WHAT YOU WERE ARGUING ABOUT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HONOR! THAT'S NOT HONOR, IT'S TRYING TO WIN A WOMAN! THERE'S A HUGE DIFFERENCE!"

Sanji was taken aback by his shout. He swallowed. Usopp let him go violently and looked at the wall, steaming with anger.

"Honestly, what the hell is wrong with you?" Usopp choked.

They both sat there in silence for a while, trying to gather their heads.

"You're right." Sanji agreed quite suddenly. Usopp lifted his head and looked back at him in shock.

"Sanji?"

"Luffy hates people like me the most. Selfish asses who treat others like objects. That's what I am, and I don't blame him for what he said." He punched the ground with his fist.

"But Usopp...How am I supposed to deal with my captain loving Nami-San?" Usopp didn't answer.

"It may sound selfish. That's the perfect word. But I couldn't stay happy on the crew knowing that!"

The liar sighed and sat himself next to Sanji, tweaking his nose.

"Is that so? Would you really go so far as not feel happy on Luffy's crew if he loved Nami?" He closed his eyes. Usopp paused, then continued.

"I'll admit, I was just as surprised when I found out. But. Our soul purpose of being on his crew is to support him in whatever he does. And if you do rejoin the crew feeling unhappy about all this, you might as well not. You know Luffy. He hates making his friends unhappy. And if you do rejoin, you wouldn't be supporting him, now would you?"

Sanji stared at Usopp, astounded by his words.

"No..." He whispered.

He then dug in his pocket for a cigarette, but didn't find one. Then he coughed and smiled softly. Usopp cocked his head and waited for a long while for Sanji to speak.

"Usopp?"

"Eh?"

"When we get out of here, will you help me find a recipe for a marvelous wedding cake?"

Usopp's eyes widened at his very sudden remark, and he gawked at the smiling Sanji.

"Where did that come from?"

"Will you?"

Usopp thought for a moment, then grinned.

"Of course!"

Sanji grinned hugely and they shook hands.

"Thanks for knocking some sense in this selfish ass's brain."

"No problem Sanji."

** I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for being so patient. The fic will pick up the pace again soon, I promise!**


	15. Baby Bear-Chan and a Transponder Snail

**Ok! Once again! I apologize for the late update! We FINALLY finished exams and I also had a MAD case of writer's block, so I'm sorry. ON A GOOD NOTE: I've got the next couple of chapters pretty planned out, so they might be out much earlier than usual! YAY!**

**Anyway, this will probably be the last kinda slow chapter, THEN BE PREPARED FOR EPICNESS! (No spoilers intended)**

**HIDDEN SECRET! "What is 'Lamina' backwards?"**

* * *

"Luffy-San! Want to hear a song?"

Luffy had just walked out of the Sunny to the encampment below where everyone was chatting with each other waiting for Bepo to respond back. Luffy's eyes lit up a bit, but he still didn't smile.

"Yeah. That sounds awesome."

Robin was off by herself in by the firepit when she looked up at Brook and smiled.

"I'll be over here. I'm working."

Zoro huffed at this and looked at her with the corner of his eye.

"What are you doing then?"

Robin looked up at him with a serious expression.

"Why I do not believe it's any of your concern."

He raised his eyebrows and headed toward the others with a suspicious frown on his face.

"What's that woman up to?"

Once Zoro had reached the circle of Strawhats and the boys, everyone waited for Brook to begin. However, the skeleton didn't do his new flashy rock 'n roll procedure. He just calmly took out his violin and began to tune.

"Oi. What are you playing?" Asked Luffy. Brook stopped tuning and lifted the instrument to his boney chin.

"Well, when I found out that you and Nami were together, my absent heart swelled with joy. See what I did there? Absent?! YOHOHOHO-"

"Yeah we get it Brook. Very funny." Chimed Nami unamused. Brook tipped his hat to her and resumed.

"Anyway. Luffy-San. You have done so much for me that I could never repay you for everything, so...I figured that it was my duty to write a beautiful song for you two." Luffy and Nami looked at each other embarrassed and waved their hands.

"Oi oi. You didn't have to go and do tha-"

"But I did. And I would love to share it."

Their ears turned pink, then they noticed the others looking at them with smiles, which made them turn even redder. Nami coughed.

"Ok ok... Play it for us then..."

Brook laughed with a "Yohohoho!" and began playing slowly. It started soft, yet upbeat, then turned into a hearty pirate tune. Everyone looked at each other and laughed. Then Brook began to sing in an energetic way.

_"Well I'm sailing out far into the ocean blue,_

_ But I couldn't do it without you,_

_ I'm going to search for new adventures,_

_ And perhaps I'll find something for you too._

_._

_ Well I can't stop now, not that I would know how._

_ To stop would mean to leave my home,_

_ And if I leave my home, where you would go now?_

_ My lady of the sea?_

_._

_ Well we're drinking out Sake under the light of the blue-corn moon,_

_ Laughing at the fat seagulls fly by,_

_ When alls out sleeping, we are still a'creeping,_

_ Along, speaking to the tides._

_._

_ Well you're singing in the raining mornings of the rising dawn,_

_ As I'm looking over a lion's head,_

_ Knowing that anywhere we might end up is fine with me,_

_ Lady of the Sea."_

The song was repetitive, and by the third time, everyone was singing and clapping along. Nami was clapping, sitting on a log, until Brook reached a solo part, which was fast-paced and sent everyone spiraling into a crazed pile of laughing idiots. Nami watched, until she looked up and saw Luffy, faintly smiling for the first time, stretching out his hand. She gawked at him for a moment, before he sighed impatiently and yanked her up to his level.

"C'mon Nami! What's a fun song if you can't dance?"

She blushed a bit, then Luffy pouted, held her hand over his head, and somehow manged to spin her around.

"There! I got you started! Now dance party-pooper!"

Nami was utterly kerbaffled at this, then she realized. Luffy HAD hung out with pirates quite a bit when he was younger. He had wanted a musician since the very beginning. She wouldn't be surprised if he knew how to dance. She smirked at him and let go of him, spun around, and glared at him with a "let's see if you can beat me" face. He smiled subtlety again and nodded.

As the singing started again, Luffy began first. He moved clumsily, yet not completely horrific. He nearly fell over several times, which made Nami laugh. Luffy looked up panting and sweaty.

"Why are you laughing?! It's not funny!"

She covered her mouth to stop, then pushed him gently out of the way.

"Watch and learn idiot."

As the beat picked up, she began to move in a way that astounded everyone. She was graceful, yet seemed to be having fun at the same time. Luffy stared fuming comically in her direction.

"Oi...I'm not a girl so..."

Nami snorted and elbowed him.

"Did that pirate teach you nothing?"

Luffy said nothing and stepped in front of everyone.

"Oh really? Nami! Watch!"

He stepped along to the music first, before he tossed his hat in the air and caught it perfectly in time. Everyone cheered and he grinned. Then he spun it on his finger while he slowly inched his arm to it, then flicked back into the air, before kicking it backward onto his head, still perfectly in time with the music. Brook went back to the chorus and Luffy sang along, acting out the words in a very creative fashion, even if he was singing horribly off-key.

Nami watched amused, before walking next to him and sliding in front of him, purposely trying to annoy him. He frowned and comically shoved her to the side and continued. Then she returned and duck-slapped him away. It went on like that for a while before Luffy accidentally tripped and fell onto Nami. They were both really into the music, so they just grabbed each others hands and began to dance together in unison.

Finally the song was coming to a close and the two broke out of their daze and Nami found herself stopping at Luffy's chest with a small spin right when Brook lifted his bow. They stared at each other with confusion before they heard the Strawhats and the boys woop and cheer for them. Even Robin had torn herself from whatever she was doing to throw a rose in their direction. They pushed away from each other awkwardly and Brook tipped his hat.

"Ah! That was so beautiful my eyes are beginning to tear up!" He paused. "OH! But I don't have any ey-"

Nobody was paying attention to his joke and he faded into another depression.

"Why?"

Arsen and Arlen pet the skeleton on the head sympathetically.

Chopper plipped on Nami's head and started sobbing in happiness while Franky was weeping over by Robin, and Zoro slapped Luffy on the back.

"Good job Captain. Work on your footing."

"Aa!" Luffy announced with his grin finally back on his bright red face.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Oi!"

After everyone finally settled down, and Nami tried once again to get Luffy to eat with no avail, Chopper had gone to play with Usopp. However, Usopp was nowhere to be found.

"EVERYONE! USOPP'S MISSING!"

"Eh?" Luffy raised his eyebrows and headed toward the reindeer.

"Where is Usopp?"

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM! I DON'T KNOW YOU IDIOT!"

Everyone looked at each other alertly before Robin looked up.

"Usopp ran after Sanji last night after everything. Yet he hasn't returned..." She sat in a thinking position. "I hope Mr. Cook didn't use his flesh for some sort of rare dish..."

"WHAT THE HELL** IS** WRONG WITH YOU WOMAN?!" Zoro yelled for the third time in several days. Chopper ignored her and tugged at Luffy's pant leg.

"Luffy. What should we do?"

Luffy didn't answer, then he rubbed his neck.

"Knowing Usopp, he probably won't just let that ass go..." He hesitated on the insult. "Let's just wait to see if he turns up. If he doesn't come back tonight, we'll go see whats up."

"Aye." Retorted Chopper nervously.

Just then, a faint "Puru puru puru puru." came from inside the Sunny. Everyone looked at each other and ran back into the dilapidated ship. Once they reached the Den Den Mushi, Luffy picked it up.

"Yo!" He said quickly, trying to act professional, but failing horribly. Everyone facepalmed.

"Hello. Is this the Strawhat Pirates?" Asked the strangely serious voice of Bepo.

"Aa. What you think of?" He said confidently with horrific grammar. Nami shoved Luffy comically out of the way and a sweat droopy dripped on her head. Luffy crashed into a wall.

"Sorry about that Bepo. So, what did you come up with?"

"Well, it's quite simple really. But Father Bear and Brother Bears are much stronger than you may think. And plus, you said their were over a billion Animal-Warriors?"

"Animal-Men? Yeah, about that many."

"Alright. I'm going to tell you something. Something I haven't even told Captain yet. Alright?"

Luffy huffed next to Nami, and irk mark pursing over his head. Nami just ignored it.

"Alright."

Bepo sighed over the snail, then began.

"As you probably already know, us Bears were the only Animal-men left in the world. Our race had been wiped out during a large war on our home island of Lamina Ridge. Back then, Animal-Men were probably the weakest race out there. Now my father, or Teddy Bear as you know him, fled Lamina with us, but Mother Bear had been too frightened to go anywhere, and, despite our protests, stayed on Lamina while it burned to the ground."

A long pause, then he continued.

"Father Bear was in a dark, dark fury over the war. I mean, who wouldn't be? However, he went too far. After sailing aimlessly together, we drifted to an Uninhabited island. One with a large, beautiful waterfall in the exact middle of it. This is the island I assume your on, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok." Another pause. "I was probably about twelve when we reached the island. All I wanted to do was let the past go; If we were the last ones left, why couldn't we just reproduce with humans to at least preserve a trace of the Animal-Men? But the others, my father especially, would not let it go. Still understandable. But once he began combining travelers that just so happened to pass by the island with animals, I had began to be a bit wary everything. He called the project "The Rehabilitation of the Animal-Warriors." However, I truly believed it to be wrong when I met the two boys."

"Arlen and Arsen?"

"Hai. At first I treated them like shit, like Father and Big Brothers. But one day, I somehow found myself in the stump-basement they lived. They were fed only the tiny leftovers that we didn't eat from OUR meals. I tossed them a piece of bread and they cried and thanked me until they fainted. (What's with all the fainting they do anyway?) From then on, I stole from our ever-shrinking food supply and gave them a PROPER meal everyday. I would play with them and tell them stories too while they ate. We became great friends."

"However, maybe a couple months later, Father Bear explained the entire project to me. He told me that one day, when he created enough Animal-Warriors, that he would set out to sea and just obliterate anyone who crossed his path. Then he said that he would become the Pirate King, just because."

"When he told me this, I thought of the boys. Not everyone was bad. Wouldn't that just be the same thing as what those people did to us? We fought long and hard, but he eventually won, due to the fact that I had inherited my mother's cowardly personality.. Father told me that he didn't need a third son, one that was like his stupid wife. I told him that I would set off to sea and become a GREAT pirate; one that would put his uncivil beasts to shame. And that I would see the day where I would see everything that this ocean has to offer on one map, even this island no one ever knew existed. Then I left, and here I am now."

After Bepo was finished, a long silence swept the room. Luffy was the one to break the silence. He angerly glared at Nami, who gave him the receiver. He began in a forceful tone.

"Listen, Bear-Guy, I don't know many things. I don't know why people think that it's ok to kill people, I don't know why that bastard would call his own wife stupid. I don't even know HOW they can bring themselves to do those things.."

He paused for a second.

"But I do know one thing."

The Strawhats smiled and rolled their eyes knowingly.

"I WILL become the Pirate King, so you don't need to worry about that. Alright?"

"Aa. Thank you. Just don't kill them please."

"You know us. We wouldn't."

The snail smiled happily, then he hung up and everyone stared at each other with evil-looking grins on their faces.

"Looks like we have yet another reason to kick their asses."

"Yep. Let's go."

"HOLD UP!" Squeaked Chopper. Everyone snapped out of their comical evil and watched Chopper waddle over to Luffy.

"Aw. Chopper you ruined the bloodthirsty rage moment!"

"Nevermind that! I need to check something."

Chopper told Luffy to sit on the ground as he removed his chest bandages. Everyone became bored and just chatted with Franky about the Sunny. Suddenly, an angry shout came from Luffy.

"WHADAYA MEAN I CAN'T GO FIGHT?!"

Chopper gave a mean expression and wrapped a new bandage around him.

"Your wounds are still way too bad! You're lucky that I let you move around as much as I did! It would surely kill you if your scars opened up!"

"SHUT UP! I'm fighting!"

"If you fight, they would open up for sure!"

"I don't care!"

"I won't let you fight Luffy!"

Chopper and Luffy were nose to nose before Robin separated them with two hands. Chopper stood up and packed up his pack.

"If you fight, you'll die."

"No I won't."

"Trust me."

"I do. But I'm not going to die from petty stuff."

"It's not petty. It's a serious injury."

"Let me talk to him Choppy." Nami stepped in. She crouched next to him and looked at him angerly.

"Luffy. We can handle it. Don't risk your life for something this small."

"If it was small I would let it go." He replied. "But those bastards hurt you, and the Tassel-Heads, and Bear-Guy! Like hell I'd let them go after that!"

"Zoro and everyone can beat them. Don't you trust us?"

Luffy opened his mouth to counter, then closed it and looked away indignantly.

"You should let us do some of the hard things sometimes. You need to stop thinking that you're the only person who can do anything. We can take over."

"But-"

"There's no buts. We will beat them, bring back Usopp (*koff koff* and Sanji-Kun too *koff koff***) **and then we'll all have fun and party again! Alright?"

Luffy pouted stubbornly, then his eyes lowered and he muttered "Alright." Nami smirked and bonked him over the head.

"OW! What was that for?!"

"For being a stubborn idiot!"

Everyone laughed and waved at Luffy and the boys, and headed toward the waterfall triumphantly.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Once Luffy was sure that they were gone, he sneakly got up, crawled into Sanji's tent, took out the leftover piece of meat, and nibbled half-heartily on it.

"I need to have some strength if I'm going to fight in this condition..."

Finally he stopped, uncharacteristically leaving quite a lot left, and straightened his hat.

"Alright. Let's go." He said to himself as he walked toward the waterfall, preparing for an awesome fight.

Meanwhile, Arlen and Arsen had noticed Luffy walking away, and silently followed after him.

**Oh my god. Finally! I was WAITING to FINALLY explain all of that Bepo stuff! Now I can finally start writing interesting things! *dies* **

**Anyway, I hope it was semi-interesting, and like I said, the fic will pick up GREATLY next chapter!**

**Also, on one last note, the fic has entered the "Close to complete" zone, as there will probably be a MAXIMUM of six more chapters left. Now don't fret, I already have plans for a new LuNa! YAY!**


	16. Stunts

**YO!**

**Well, here it is! The final battle! Please note that this chapter WILL be quite long, so get some coffee brewing!**

**Also note that this is NOT the last chapter. It will be coming soon, but not THAT soon! *sniffs***

**I also recommend listening to One Piece OSTs while reading this, like "Overtaken", just a suggestion! *sweatdroopy***

**So, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It was quite sunny, maybe about 4 in the afternoon, humid, and hot. The Strawhats marched side-by-side toward the top of the waterfall. They were all focused on their task, and thinking different things.

Zoro was hearing his swords' cry for blood. He was becoming impatient, and he had to be stopped several times because he kept finding shortcuts.

Nami was worrying about Luffy; could he REALLY have been convinced to sit back that easily?

Chopper was also worrying about him, but more about if he was moving too much at the camp.

Robin was thinking quite classified things that ordinary people would not be able to decipher.

Franky was curious on how Teddy was able to morph the animal-men.

Brook was thinking up of a KILLER joke that would make his crew laugh FO' SHO'!

However they all had the same expression on their face; pure determination and readiness to the battle before them.

Once they had reached the top of the waterfall, they could hear the unknown chatters of the Animal-Warriors. They stopped and Nami formed out a plan.

"Alright. Zoro, Robin, Chopper, and Franky. You stay here and distract the Animal-Men. I'll sneak into the base and try to find Usopp (andalsosanjitoo) and bring them out to finish the Teddy guy. Sound good?"

"Aye!" The others agreed. They all turned toward the camp, took a deep breath, and charged into the immense crowd of animals.

Nami waited until there was no one at the entrance of the tree-base, then silently sneaked in.

**XXXXXXX**

Fluffy was just chatting to a Elephant-Man about his new weapon when a sudden commotion erupted within the crowd. Before they could even comprehend what had happened, several of the weaker gunmen were down. Fluffy gritted his teeth.

"Come back for more-_neko?_ Alright! We'll give them more!"

Fluffy aimed the tact to a green-haired man and fired some sort of electric shock at him. He seemed to know it was coming, as he jumped out of the way and just nailed him with the butt of his sword. Fluffy crashed to the ground and Zoro nonchalantly took the tact.

"Well, that was easy..."

Suddenly, the elephant that he had just been talking to loomed over him. Zoro leaned over backwards with a neutral expression, then his eyes widened and he narrowly missed a huge stream of fire shooting out of the beast's trunk.

"Shit! Not ANOTHER fire animal!"

The elephant laughed (more like tooted) and lifted his trunk up.

"Ah! You see I am a Tier 2 Animal-Warrior! I have been injected with the Blaze Stunt, not that you know what THAT is!"

Zoro narrowed his eyes and stood up slowly.

"What is it?"

"Well...it is- WHY WOULD I TELL YOU!?" The elephant huffed and pointed his trunk at him.

"Why should you care anyway? You're going to be burned to death either way!"

Zoro glared at him, then smirked in his typical bad ass fashion.

"Who says I'm going to burn to death?"

**XXXXXXXXX**

Chopper had charged in angerly, however, not one of the Animal-men even looked at him.

"Eh? Why won't anyone fight me?"

He looked around at the animals in confusion before the pig looked at him.

"Oi! Why aren't you fighting back Raccoon-Man?"

Chopper froze, then turned to his karate point and hiya'd the crap out of the pig.

"I. AM. NOT. A. RACCOON!" He shouted as the pig fell to the ground, smoking.

Chopper turned around, then saw a ton of animals glaring directly at him. Chopper swallowed, then ran off screaming as they chased him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"STRONG RIGHT! RADICAL BEAM! WEAPONS LEFT!"

Franky was beating off the horde of animals using all of his maneuvers. They just kept coming.

"Damn! They're stubborn!" Finally he could take a breather, but before long a creature whizzed passed him with incredible speed, knocking him to the ground.

"Wha?" He was hit again and fell on his face. He sat back up, sputtering grass, and saw a bird-man flapping in front of him.

"What the hell?"

The bird-man smirked, which looked quite odd as he had a beak, and he landed on the ground.

"I am a Tier 3 Animal-Warrior. What are you? A tin can?"

Franky's sunglasses twinkled and he lifted his arm.

"Can a tin can perform a triple-gun-cannon-mecha-ray with added flash-flare: color Purple/red with a SUPER reconcile base?!"

The bird had question marks floating around him as one of Franky's shoulders opened a small door. Three large guns popped out and Franky readied for attack.

"Franky TRIPLE FLASH RAY!"

Three large reddish beams shot from his shoulder and flung to the spot where the bird man was. However, the bird-man suddenly disappeared and the beam hit a large tree, engulfing it completely in a blinding purple light that could blind a man. Franky turned around suddenly and was hit with a mammoth force square on the back. He tumbled over on the ground, struggling to get up after the attack.

"Phht. Is that really the best you got, tin can?"

Franky stood up, stumbling, and glared at the bird.

"You're fast, I'll give you that."

The bird laughed.

"Well I AM a Tier 3 Warrior. I WAS injected with the Zip-Stunt!"

"The wha-what?"

The bird rolled his eyes and zipped so he was behind him again. Franky's eyes widened.

"It doesn't matter, I've got a cyborg to kill right now..."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Chopper-San!"

Chopper was still screaming around the battle-field when Brook picked him up and side-stepped casually out of the charging animal's way. Chopper stopped screaming and looked at the skeleton thoughtfully.

"Huh?"

"You might want to cover your ears..." He thought for a moment. "But I guess **I **don't have to...BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ANY EARS TO COVER! YOHOHOHO-"

Chopper sighed and covered his ears. After Brook was finished, he took out his violin and lept up in the air.

"Nemuriuta Flanc!" He said as he played a sweet lullaby. Many animals looked up at him and instantly fell asleep. Soon, about a hundred or so sleeping animals littered the ground.

"Yohohoho! Victory!" He shouted energetically as he flashed the victory sign to Chopper. Chopper then screamed.

"LOOK BEHIND YOU!"

Brook turned around and screamed along with the reindeer. About five hundred more animals were staring dangerously at them.

Soon, Brook and Chopper were back to screaming maniacally around the battlefield, animals chasing after them.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Trienta Fluer: Clutch!"

Robin was struggling to keep all of her attackers at bay. She still had yet to get seriously injured, but she was clearly beginning to wear out from all of the clutching and strangling. She was about to preform a clutch on a dog-man, before she was hit with an extreme force on the side of her face. She crashed into a tree and slowly got up, panting.

"How did I not notice that I was about to get hit?"

Then she realized, it was the dog. He was looking at her with a slight smile on his face, not even breaking a sweat after that impressive hit.

"HAH! Puny human! You could NEVER compare to the strength of the Strong-Stunt!"

She narrowed her eyes and stood up.

"Diez Fluer!" She said. Five arms on either side connected, forming one long arm. Both of the arms grabbed the dog's arms and lifted him up in the air.

"Spin!"

Her arms began to spin the dog in the air like a pinwheel, going faster and faster. After a while she let go and the dog landed on the ground, stumbling with spirals as eyes. Robin gave a slight smile as she walked over to the dizzy animal, and broke his neck with her own arms. The proud dog fell to the ground with a gruesome crack.

"How shameful." She announced as she walked away to deal with some more animals.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"USOPP?! (sanjikunareyouheretoo?) USOPP?! (sanjikuntooiguessmaybe)"

Nami had snuck into the tree-base and was now inching around corners trying to find the cell she had been in. Luckily she remembered the location, so finding the two was much easier than it could've been. There were no guards around, as most of them were fighting, so Nami walked toward the cell. Her eyes lit up when she saw both Usopp and Sanji staring at her with wide eyes.

"N-Nami?"

"Nami-Swan?"

She grinned and took out a key. They gawked at her.

"How'd you get a key?!"

"I swiped it from a guard that passed me."

Usopp and Sanji twinkled in happiness as Nami unlocked and opened the door. They walked out and Nami waited for them to exit, but Sanji stopped in front of her.

"Oi. Nami-Swan?"

Nami was exceedingly happy that she was seeing Sanji again, but she pretended to not care.

"What is it?"

"I-I'm..." He looked away, trying to gather his pride. Then he sighed.

"I'm sorry. That was extremely selfish of me. More than selfish. I just can't think of life without Luffy, or the others. Do you think Luffy will forgive what I said?"

Nami smiled and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Let's just say that Luffy probably wants you back on the crew more than you want to be back."

His showing eye lit up and he smiled.

"Alright then. We should probably get going! Come on Nami-Swan! I'll lead the way!"

Sanji zoomed up ahead and Nami ran after chuckling. An irk mark pulsed above Usopp's head and he ran after them.

"OI! WHAT ABOUT ME YOU BASTARDS!?"

Nami suddenly stopped Sanji, and Usopp ran into them. Nami shushed the men and pointed ahead. Twelve guards were looking around for the key they "lost". Nami pinched her nose.

"This would be easy IF I didn't have two bumbling morons with me...but..." She sighed and turned toward Sanji and Usopp.

"Alright. You have to stay VERY close to me...but not too close because I have personal space. You hear? Follow my every move."

Sanji and Usopp nodded, and Sanji whispered "Nami's so cute when she's serious." to himself before following her to the other wall.

"We're almost there." She announced after about fifteen minutes of sneaking. It was true, the door was almost in sight. Nami motioned for Usopp and Sanji to go running ahead while she checked to see if there were any guards. The men reached the door, and Nami was just about to head there herself, before she felt the familiar grab on her collar.

"Well well...Isn't it the Cutie?"

Sanji and Usopp's eyes widened and they shouted out.

"NAMI! IT'S THE BEAR!"

Teddy lifted Nami up, nearly choking her and laughed. Nami grabbed at her collar and glared at Teddy with fury.

"Let go of her!" Sanji yelled as he charged at the bear with his Diablo Jambe. Teddy noticed it and with a large swipe of his oversized paw, sent the cook flying into a wall.

"Sanji!" Usopp gritted his teeth and took out Karu Kabuto. But Teddy swiped him to the side before he could shoot a pop green. Sanji got up, spitting out rock and watched in horror as Nami was taken out of the base to who knows where, yet again.

"USOPP! WE HAVE TO GO FIND NAMI-SAN!"

Usopp got up coughing.

"Let's go!"

However, before they were able to leave, hundreds of guards surrounded them, leaving them unable to go after her.

"SHIT! Let's get these guys dealt with soon before anything happens to her!"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Of all the other Strawhats outside, only Zoro noticed the large shape of Teddy climbing up the tree-base. He grinned evilly and blocked a trunk-swipe from the elephant. Then he rolled away from another fire-shot.

"Can you hurry this up a bit? I want to beat up the bear."

"Like HELL I'll let you do that swordsman!" The elephant shouted as he unleashed more and more fire in his direction. Zoro struggled a bit trying to dodge them, but then he noticed some commotion going on inside the base. This distracted him for a moment, which allowed the elephant to knock him violently to the ground. He grunted angerly and stood up. He placed his sword back in his mouth and readied for a devastating attack.

"Guess I'll have to beat you first huh? That's fine with me. I need a warm up anyway..."

.

Meanwhile, a pair of furious eyes emerged from the bushes, staring with killer rage at Teddy climbing the tree.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"LET GO OF ME YOU STUPID BEAR!" Yelled Nami as Teddy climbed to the top of the tree-base. At the top, there was a large wooden platform with a destroyed pirate ship on top. They were mind-bogglingly high, so high the battles going on below seemed unimportant. Teddy laughed.

"Well...now we've got some privacy, don't we? None of your friends can reach up here anytime soon!"

Nami glared at Teddy with rage and fright. THIS was Bepo's father? It seemed so wrong! Even if they did look quite a lot alike with their white fur. She swallowed.

"Let me ask you something."

"Hmm?" Teddy looked at her quizzically. "What is it Cutie?"

"Do you know what has become of Bepo?"

Teddy's evil eyes narrowed and he let go of her suddenly. Nami fell to the ground harshly and looked up.

"How do you know of him?" He spat. Nami rubbed her head.

"He's your son, isn't he?! How can you treat your own son like that?! Did you know that he's a pirate in the New World now?!"

Teddy growled ferociously and glared at her with frighting eyes.

"What did you just say!?"

"I said Bepo is a pirate in the New World!"

Teddy didn't say anything for a long while, then he picked up Nami again and brought her inches to his face.

"That cowardly wimp of a son could never become a great pirate. No matter how hard he works! He'll always have the pure stupidity of my wife locked inside him! I don't need a son like him! I'm going to become the Pirate King!"

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" Shouted Nami as the fury inside her burst. "YOUR CREW ARE UNCIVIL ABOMINATIONS CREATED FROM THE DEAD BODIES OF THOSE YOU KILLED! YOU WILL NEVER BECOME THE PIRATE KING!"

Teddy looked dangerously at her. He huffed and laughed, which unnerved Nami greatly.

"And your wimp of a captain will? Where is he now? Oh! Perhaps his injuries from the last battle were too great and he's just sitting at the camp helpless! Eh? Am I right?"

Nami looked down. Teddy knew he had hit the nail right on the mark. He brought her closer to him and he smiled.

"Why have a Captain like that, when you could have one like me?"

Nami widened her eyes in fright. She was totally helpless. No one could come and save her. She couldn't defend herself. Was there anything she could do? She clenched her fist, when the sound of harsh panting sounded behind them. Teddy raised his eyebrows in surprise, and gently put Nami on the ground. Nami turned around in confusion and her mouth opened at the sight.

"L-LUFFY!?"

Luffy was standing at the other edge of the platform, panting from unexplainable rage and exhaustion from climbing. His eyes were fixed on the bear's, and both of his hands were clenched into fists. Nami almost became scared at how he looked; like a demon almost. Nothing moved for about three minutes, only the sound of heavy panting from Luffy. Then Nami shouted out.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! YOU'LL KILL YOURSELF! LUFFY!"

Luffy didn't even react to the comment. He still stared into the bears eyes. Teddy crossed his arms and looked at him with an amused expression.

"Well! Looks like you AREN'T just sitting back doing nothing eh? Fine with me!"

No answer from Luffy. Nami just stared at him with fear. She KNEW he wouldn't just stay back! And with how he was looking right now, his safety was the LEAST of his concern. Luffy finally lifted up his eyes, and slowly lifted his arm.

"Gear...Second.." He muttered as he heated up. He waited a moment, before he broke the silence by leaping into the air and shouting "Jet Pistol!"

The pistol hit Teddy square in the jaw and he fell backwards, crashing into the broken ship. Luffy landed on his feet and pursed his lips, waiting for Teddy to stand back up. As soon as his head peeked from under the rubble, Luffy zoomed next to him and hit him with another pistol. Teddy rolled back to the platform and struggled to stand up coughing.

And he called LUFFY a wimp! Hah! Nami thought. Maybe he wouldn't push himself too hard after all.

Teddy stood up and weakly side-stepped another potential jet pistol and took out something. Luffy made a confused noise in his throat. It was a syringe filled with an opaque liquid. Teddy flinched at the sight of it, then jammed it into his arm, giving out a painful moan. Luffy and Nami watched as the bear tossed the now empty syringe aside and stared at Luffy with almost equal fury, panting just as he had done.

"What the hell was that?!" Yelled out Nami. Teddy turned his head toward her smiling.

"It's a...stunt. A...stunt to end...all stunts...you could say. Never...been tested..." He walked over to her.

"You think I'm...weak...Cutie? Well what do you think of...the only Tier 1 Animal-Warrior? The...user of the...All-Stunt?"

Nami was utterly confused, but it faded to fear when the now sweaty and hot bear grabbed her yet again and laughed in her face.

"All three stunts...Blaze, Zip,and Strong...combined into one...my greatest creation...Fire, Speed, and Strength...resistance to Haki...HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?!"

"LET HER GO YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

Luffy screamed with more fury than Nami had ever seen before. Luffy zoomed next to him and prepared to bullet him straight in the face. Teddy saw it and zipped out of the way, causing Luffy to lose balance and crash to the ground. Teddy laughed.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Luffy stood up and him and the bear zipped around madly, trying to hit the other. Nami watched alertly. How would this end up? It was just like that frog, and that fire-lizard Usopp and Zoro fought. What if Luffy strained himself so much that his wounds would open up? Her fears greatened when she saw Teddy give a huge swipe of his paw and sent Luffy flying straight into the ship with remarkable force.

There was a moment of frightening silence, then Luffy emerged from the smoke, still standing, with a small trickle of blood running down the side of his face. He didn't show any signs of pain at all. Teddy raised his eyebrows at this. The Strong-Stunt was considerably strong; plus it included armament Haki...What kind of person could just stand up after being hit?

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**MEANWHILE**

Zoro had been burned. One small mistake; a trip. The elephant laughed in victory.

"HAH! You weak swordsman! This is the power of the ANIMAL-WARRIORS!"

Suddenly, Zoro's hand twitched. He began to stand up and he balanced himself on a sword, coughing. He narrowed his eye.

"Did you just call me 'weak?'"

The elephant flinched at Zoro's expression. Zoro then smirked and, before the elephant even knew what hit him, he fell to the ground with a large, deep cut on his chest.

"Oni Giri..." He said triumphantly as he sheathed his sword. After the elephant was down, he inspected his very serious burns.

"Oh well... I can still fight. I don't need Chopper."

**MEAN-MEANWHILE**

Franky stood over the unconscious bird-man, who's beak was completely destroyed. Franky lifted his sunglasses with surprise.

"Hmmm. I guess you shouldn't have tried to break my steel shoulders with that beak of yours. Ah. Well, I guess I'll go see if Robin needs help."

As Franky walked away, the bird-man sweatdropped in humiliation.

**MEAN-MEAN-MEANWHILE**

Brook and Chopper were clinging onto Robin in relief.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH ROBIN!"

Robin giggled and looked devilishly at the pile of animals she had broken the necks of. Then she looked back and smiled.

"No problem at all."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Nami could not have been able to describe the battle. It was going so fast between Teddy's Zip-Stunt and Luffy's Gear Second, that she couldn't keep track. Every once in a while, one of the two would come crashing to the ground, but then they would retaliate and continue. It was amazing to watch.

"Paw SWIPE!"

"ARMAMENT!"

Luffy blocked another swipe with his Haki-infused arm, then took the chance to strike the bear in the gut with the other arm. Teddy coughed and stumbled backward. There was a moment of no movement. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Teddy zipped in front of him and shot a stream of fire in his direction. Luffy just barely dodged it by stretching away, but then, the worst thing that could have happened, happened. Luffy's eyes widened in pain and shock as he landed on the ground clutching at his chest. Nami seemed to realize what happened right away and she cried out.

"LUFFY!"

Blood soaked through the bandages and soon it turned from white to a very scary shade of red. Teddy looked at this and smirked, catching his breath.

"Well...looks like we know how THIS is going to turn out!"

Luffy coughed and looked up at Teddy, not giving in to the immense pain and exhaustion that he was feeling.

"How...? *pant pant* It's...not over...yet...*cough*"

"Look at you! You're nothing less than a dead man!"

Luffy began to wheeze, but he stopped, used every ounce of strength he could muster at that moment, and sent both of his legs flying toward Teddy. Teddy was so distracted by his pride that he didn't realize that Luffy had him pinned to the spot. Luffy kept his balance and sent his arms flying backward.

"Armament..." He choked out. He could feel another scar opening, but he pushed through.

"Gomu Gomu no..."

His arms became engulfed in flames.

"Red Hawk..."

He sent the arms flying back at Teddy, who's eyes widened in terror.

"BAZOOKA!" He screamed as the arms made contact with the bear and sent him flying off the platform in a raging fire, falling down to the battle below. Luffy flew backwards from the attack and tumbled on the platform for a good few seconds before coming to a sudden stop at the ship.

At the battle below, everyone heard something falling.

"What's that?!"

"Is something falling!?"

Teddy crashed in the middle of the battle field, on top of a large crowd of animal-men. Once the smoke cleared up, the utterly destroyed bear showed from the debris of the ground.

"EH!? TEDDY-SAMA!?"

The Strawhats were just as surprised.

"How'd he get so destroyed? Who did this?"

The animal-men were in complete chaos at the sight and they all went running back to the base. However, two very pissed-off and murderous men were waiting for them. The animals were surrounded, so they bowed their heads and accepted a complete, and utter defeat.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

At the platform on top of the base, everything was silent. Nami just stared at nothing in shock. However, once she gathered her thoughts, she quickly stood up and ran toward the ship, where Luffy lay, wheezing harshly.

"Luffy! You'll be alright! You got him! You're fine!"

Nami then looked down at his chest and saw that the bandages didn't show a speck of white anymore. She looked at Luffy desperately.

"Oi! Say something! Stop making me worry!"

Luffy opened his eyes to little slits and saw her. He coughed.

"Is...Bear-Bastard...away..?"

"Yes! Bear-bastard's away! We can all calm down now."

Nami then heard some faint gasping noises behind her. She turned around and saw the small statures of Arlen and Arsen gaping at Luffy with open mouths.

"S-Strawhat-San-Sama?!"

"ARLEN! ARSEN! GO GET CHOPPER RIGHT NOW!" She demanded. The boys flinched at her shout and saluted urgently.

"Aye! Nami-San-Sama!"

Nami turned back to Luffy, who was grinning happily as he wheezed.

"Oi...Nami! Don't...worry so much!...Like I'd really...die here...idiot!"

Nami began to tear up and she slapped her forehead.

"How can I not worry about you!? You're the idiot, idiot!"

Luffy laughed raspily and grabbed Nami's hand.

"You know...Nami...I have question...to ask you...once...talk better..."

"Sure! Of course!"

Surprisingly quickly, the boys came back up with a scared and worried Chopper who ran over to Luffy.

"YOU IDIOT! WHY DIDN'T YOU STAY AT THE CAMP!? Holy crap...how the hell am I supposed to treat this? YOU KNOW, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST FINE IF YOU RESTED A COUPLE DAYS! Maybe if I..."

Once Chopper began to treat him, Nami left with the boys. Once she got out of Luffy's line of sight, she began to cry.

"Nami-San-Sama?"

"Arlen...Arsen...I am so lucky to be a Strawhat!" She said through her sobs. The boys looked at her happily and patted her on the head.

"Strawhat-San-Sama is really an awesome guy...Thank you for helping us..."

"He's just so...reckless...what if Chopper can't treat him?! What if...What if his wounds are just too severe?!"

"He'll be fine! I'm sure!"

Nami hugged them both and they walked to the others, and Nami told the entire story to the others, their eyes growing bigger the longer she told it.

**And...THAT'S the end of the "Rehabilitation of the Animal-Warriors!" *passes out from exhaustion* Doctor! I think I overstrained myself! Doctor? (Oh yeah, Chopper's treating mister badass idiot right now...Oh well...**

**I hope that the final battle was fulfilling. And, for any uncertainty, yes, I made up Robin's "spin" attack, Franky's "Triple Gun Flash," and, of course, De Ol' Red Hawk Bazooka...**

**We are now entering the, "Perhaps 2 more chapters and an epilogue.." so enjoy the story while it lasts, and spread the word about the fic if you think it's notable! (Only if you WANT to...) :P**


	17. Her Last Name

**Hello! *sits at table* Nice to see you guys again! This will be the third-to-last chapter of Nami? What's Love? And also, we have hit... *checks fic* 60 Followers! And *checks fic again* 10,000 Views! Truly THIS is a cause for celebration!**

**Before we start, I would just like to thank some AMAZING people who have inspired me to work extra hard for this fic! It would NOT have been the same without these guys!**

**To Monkey D. Conan: This fellow has supplied some REALLY great advice! Thank you for caring so much about the fic and for boosting my moral!**

**To Jeimii-Chan2009: For caring so much about the story, and for feeling the need to state how good it was! Thank you so much Jeimii-Chan! *throws a rose***

**And...last but not least...**

**To Omega6622: This one goes beyond saying. This guy personally reviewed me HILARIOUS reviews on every single chapter, poking fun on the fic while stating what he liked or thought could be improved! This fic would NOT have been as good without Omega! I could go on forever on why this guy is awesome, but I'm sure Y'all want to get to reading!**

**THANK YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH! :)**

**Please know that I appreciate ALL O' YALL PEOPLES and everything you've done for me!**

* * *

As Nami told the others about what had happened on the platform, Sanji sat on a stump, thinking.

"An empty hole..." He thought. "What a way to describe it..."

Usopp had walked next to him and looked at him sympathetically.

"Oi? Sanji? Why aren't you out there?"

Sanji sighed and looked up at Usopp.

"I figured that I'd speak to Luffy when he woke up. If he forgave, the others would too. It's easier that way."

Usopp nodded and leaned closer to the cook.

"Stop looking so stressed then...Idiot...We should be celebrating!"

Sanji lit a cigarette and stood up.

"You know...I still haven't thanked you enough for snapping me out of it."

"It's no problem."

They grinned and fist-bumped each other. Usopp then headed back while Sanji patiently waited for his captain to wake.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Chopper? How's Luffy doing?"

Chopper kept shooing Nami away from his tent. It was the eighth time she had tried to sneak in to check on him.

"Nami. He's fine! I had some of Jimbei's blood left over from Fishman Island, so he'll be fine! Now shoo!"

Nami swallowed and looked down. It wasn't so much that she was worried about him, she just wanted to see him. He had been so stressed lately; now he didn't have anything TO be stressed about. She stared over in the direction of the frightened remainder of the Animal-Men, tied up expertly with chains and such. She sat by the Sunny impatiently, watching Franky put the finishing touches on the now fixed ship.

"SUPER! It's finally fixed!"

Everyone cheered and hugged their ship.

"SUNNY!"

"I thought you were a goner!"

"Phhht! Measly cannons can't take you down!"

"I'm so happy that my heart-"

"YAY!"

"...why do I even bother anymore?..."

Franky sat at the deck, preparing for a Coup De Burst that would fling the Sunny back to the ocean. Once he finished, Zoro looked over at Nami.

"Should we call that Bepo now? Tell him everything's taken care of?"

"Aa. Let's do that."

Nami dialed the number and waited for the bear to pick up.

"W-Who is this?"

"This is Nami of the Strawhats. We just wanted to tell you everything is taken care of."

Silence. Then Bepo replied, voice filled with happiness.

"T-Thanks so much! I-I really can't tell you how happy I am..."

"But Bepo...Didn't you say something about having brothers?"

A pause.

"Yes...But they are not on the island anymore, I don't think. They left about a month ago to my knowledge, went back to Lamina Island. Not sure. Don't worry about them. You guys have done enough!"

"What about the boys?"

"Don't worry about them either. We'll come and pick them up. We'll take care of the Animal-Warriors too. Maybe Captain can unmorph them!"

"Thanks Bepo!"

"No problem! Thank you guys so much!"

Everyone laughed and Nami said goodbye. Once she hung up, everyone moved to the deck and Brook began playing his brand new song once again as a celebration.

Nami was watching everyone fail miserably at dancing, (and wondering what Robin was doing in her tent alone) when she felt a small tug on her skirt.

"Nami...You wanted to see Luffy right? He's awake now."

Nami looked down at the smiling Chopper and nodded.

"Alright! I will! Thanks!"

Chopper giggled and Nami ran down to the tent.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Nami opened the flap and instantly saw Luffy, poking at a large beetle that was crawling on a bottle. He had a fresh bandage on. He lifted his head and turned toward Nami semi-happily.

"Nami! Hi!" He said with a little less energy than usual. Nami was put-off by this, but then realized there was still one thing on his mind.

"Luffy, just so you know, Usopp and Sanji are back here."

Luffy's eyes widened in happiness for a second, then he frowned.

"Sanji?"

"He's waiting to talk to you. He's devastated about what he said. Once you can stand you should go talk to him."

Luffy nodded, and Nami noticed he was grinning like his old self after hearing this. Nami sighed happily and sat down.

"Oi Nami?"

"Hmm?" Nami looked up at Luffy.

"I think I can stand now. Can you take me to talk to him now?"

Nami smiled and lifted him up, then pushed him out of the tent. She came out next and helped him to his feet; they ended up facing each other. Nami suddenly blushed, then looked away.

"Um...See you later then...I guess..."

Luffy grinned hugely and tilted his hat. He seemed like he was about to say something, then he shut his mouth and chuckled to himself. Then he headed off towards Sanji's direction.

Nami cocked her head at his behavior, but she just shook her head and waited with the others.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Luffy saw Sanji sitting on the stump smoking. He stopped about 3 yards away and waited for Sanji to notice him. When he did, Sanji stood up from the stump. They stared at each other like that for a while, before Luffy spoke.

"Nami told me you had something to say?"

Sanji nodded and flicked his cigarette on the ground. Then he looked back with thoughtful eyes, kneeled to the ground, and put his head to the ground as well. Luffy vaguely remembered him doing this back at the Baratie.

"I am deeply sorry Captain. What I said was wrong and I fully admit that. If you have the heart to forgive me, I will be more than grateful."

Luffy suddenly burst out laughing. Sanji lifted his head up irritated.

"Oi! Why are you laughing? I was being serious!"

After Luffy stopped, he gleefully walked over to the cook, lifted him back to his feet, and crossed his arms grinning.

"Did you really have to be that formal? You could've just said 'Sorry' and I would've forgave you! Now, cook some food!"

Sanji just stared at him, then shook his head.

"You never change, do you?"

"Stop being so inspiring! I'm hungry!"

Sanji laughed and saluted happily.

"Aye aye!"

When everyone saw Luffy walk out with Sanji, they all greeted their cook gladly. Even Zoro slapped him on the back and said "Glad you're back Dartboard." Sanji cooked up a feast and they all ate while telling odd stories. Robin finally came to join the others, and when asked by Robin what she was doing she replied, "You'll see."

Brook played the song, and Sanji was quite impressed by it. While everyone danced wildly, Luffy just ate, and ate, and ate. Nami laughed madly at this and seemed relieved that he was finally eating again.

"I guess starving yourself for several days has increased your appetite even more, if that's even possible."

Luffy nodded while he was eating and motioned for Nami to sit with him with his head. She did so and watched Luffy narf down meal after meal. Finally he stopped and stood up.

"Well! Nami! I think we are going to head out on Sunny again now! Walk with me back?"

"I have to take down all the tents and the picnic table. I'll be there soon!"

Luffy pouted as if he really wanted to walk with her back. He opened his mouth again, then shut it once more. All he said was "Alrighty!" and he started to head back. Then he stopped and looked back.

"Oi Nami?"

"Huh?"

"You know...Can I ask you something real quick?"

Nami raised her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah...You did want to ask me something back there..."

Luffy rubbed his neck and looked around.

"So...I was just wondering...Do you have a last name?"

Nami made a weird face.

"I don't believe so...no...But why would you want to know that?"

Luffy coughed and turned around, heading toward the Sunny's direction. He was smirking mischievously to himself.

"Oh...No reason...I just kinda think that 'Monkey D. Nami' sounds pretty...Not sure..."

He then walked away. Nami had question marks around her head in obvious confusion, then her eyes widened.

"W-Wait a sec- Did you just-"

"DID YOU JUST-"

"OI COME BACK HERE YOU IDIOT! ARE YOU SMIRKING!? COME BACK HERE!"

Luffy was already quite a ways away, grinning madly to himself.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Luffy had already reached the Sunny when Nami arrived. She was out of breath and everyone was staring at her oddly. She paused to catch her breath before she approached Luffy.

"Hey Nami! What's up! You look tired!" He then giggled and lifted his hat with his index finger. Nami just stared at him.

"Oi! Come on! I want to get to sailing!" Shouted Franky from above.

"Luffy. Did you just..." She didn't finish. Luffy smiled.

"Let's get on the ship. It's about time we leave this island!"

"That's what you wanted to ask me...wasn't it?

"I have no clue what you are talking about..." He lied horribly while whistling.

Nami kept staring at him with wide eyes. Luffy grew impatient and grabbed Nami, and rocketed on the Sunny. They landed on the deck with everyone else, who was confused, yet ready to go. Arlen and Arsen waved from the old campsite.

"BYE STRAWHAT-SAN-SAMA!"

"WE'LL NEVER FORGET YOU!"

Luffy leaned over the railing and waved back.

"BYE TASSEL-HEADS! DON'T FAINT FROM YELLING!"

"AYE!" They yelled back as Franky yelled out "Coup De BURST!" and they rocketed out of the island, and back into the ocean, leaving behind the island and heading toward a new adventure.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Once the island was out of sight, Luffy turned toward Nami, who had calmed down a bit but was still staring at Luffy. Luffy couldn't keep in his grin and he tugged on his hat.

"So...what do you say? I really think you should change it...It sounds prettier..."

Nami blushed madly and everyone watched in amusement, and confusion. Usopp spoke out.

"What happened Nami?"

Nami coughed and looked up at the grinning Luffy.

"I-I think he just proposed to me..."

Everyone shouted "WHAAA?" and Usopp fell over. Even Zoro tripped and fell on his face.

"THAT'S WAAAAY TOO SOON!"

Luffy stuck his hands in his pockets.

"So? I've already made up my mind! If she Ok with it, Nami's changing her name!"

"YOU'VE BARELY EVEN BEEN TOGETHER!"

Surprisingly, Sanji was the one who stepped in.

"Hold on. You guys know how quickly Luffy decides things...And you know what?" He paused for a moment. "Whenever he jumps to things too soon, it always ends up fine. It's just fact. It's Luffy-Logic."

Everyone gawked at Sanji, including Nami and Luffy. Sanji grinned.

"And can anyone really change this idiot's mind when he decides something?"

Everyone slowly shook their heads and they all looked toward Luffy and Nami. Luffy looked around awkwardly and digged in his pocket. Everyone held their breath, then facepalmed when he took out several pieces of meat he swiped and shoved it in his mouth. There was a long period of silence when he chewed, almost as if he was taking his time on purpose. He swallowed, waited a moment, then turned toward an overwhelmed Nami.

"So...Nami...Will you marry me?"

Nami stared at him. His smile was huge, as if he knew what she was going to say. She thought frantically for a moment, then looked back at him. What an idiot, taking it this far so soon. Didn't she tell him to take it slow? She glanced at the others, who were watching bug-eyed. She smiled, then closed her eyes. That freaking stupid idiot...

"Yes."

Everyone exclaimed in utter surprise and Luffy's grin grew even wider. Nami grinned along with him. Luffy then suddenly whipped off his hat, stuck it on her head, and kissed her strongly, still holding the hat. Nami let him and hugged his neck, which provoked reaction from the others. Then they all cheered and clapped while Robin threw down some bright red roses that were coincidentally there. Zoro facepalmed, hiding a soft smile.

"That idiot..."

It stayed like that for a long time before Luffy let go and pushed their foreheads together. Nami chuckled.

"You're a real idiot, you know that right?"

Luffy grinned.

"Of course I know that...Monkey D. Nami..."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Everyone ran down to congratulate the couple, and Robin decided it was time. She smirked, took out a heavy metal ball, sprouted an arm on Sanji, and threw the ball from Sanji to Zoro. Zoro saw that the ball came from Sanji's direction and he stormed over to him.

"OI! Why'd you do that?"

Sanji became confused.

"I didn't do anything you stupid marimo!"

Zoro and Sanji started screaming insults at each other, getting closer and closer...

Suddenly Robin giggled, closed her eyes, and pushed the two rivals' heads together with two more hands, it took Zoro and Sanji several seconds to realize that their lips were connected, before they pushed each other off and fell to the ground disgust/shock.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" They shouted. Then they noticed Robin, over in a corner, giggling madly to herself with a red face. Sanji and Zoro looked at each other with twitching eyes.

"I am going to kill that woman..."

"I don't think I've ever gotten this close to kicking a lady in my life..."

Robin was still in a massive giggling fit, while Zoro and Sanji stared at each other with red ears. A pause.

"God damn it..." Zoro said, and he very quickly left the deck to the men's quarters. Sanji looked toward the floor and twitched in horror.

"That...was actually not half bad..." He muttered to himself, before trying to drown himself in a bucket of water in shame.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Oi...Usopp?"

"Huh? What is it Sanji?"

"You're going to keep your promise right?"

"Of course!"

"Well then, we're going to make the best damn wedding cake the world has ever seen."

"Aye."

**SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! SQUEE ON MY OWN WRITING OH MY GOD! (Leave it to that reckless idiot to propose so soon...XD) (Also... GOD DAMN IT ROBIN!)**

**So yeaah...*tries to cool down* I do know that this is quite sudden (Not quite...REALLY freaking sudden!) however, I feel that Luffy would actually do something like this, so yeah.**

**Anyway, final chapter is next, then an epilogue. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and keep them reviews rolling! *dies of massive fangirl***


	18. Little Nakama(Or What Married People Do)

**Well, it's finally come to this...The final REAL chapter...I really appreciate all of the overwhelming support and such, being such a young and inexperienced writer! (I AM only 14 years old after all!) :P**

**It's so nice to write something that many people enjoy, and I do hope that I continue to intrigue you all with my future writings! WELP! ONWARDS!**

* * *

** TWO WEEKS LATER**

Everyone had mostly gotten over the shock of the very rushed and unexpected proposal by now. Surprisingly enough, everything was back to normal. Luffy had announced that the wedding wouldn't take place until he became the Pirate King, so everyone just laid back and waited for another island to pass by.

In fact, it was almost as if Nami and Luffy weren't fiancees at all. Other than a couple sweet moments between them, and countless teasings and jokes, they just treated each other like a Captain and his Navigator should treat each other.

Usopp, however, was very timid after all of this, almost like something was about to explode every time he saw something. He noticed the subtle, little differences in everyone's behavior. Luffy seemed a bit more mature, especially around Nami. Zoro and Sanji flat-out ignored each other while Robin giggled at the mere sight of them. Even Chopper went out of his way to follow Luffy like a shadow.

Usopp sighed. He had always thought Luffy was asexual. Heck, it made him gag to even THINK about any of the crew falling in love, much less marrying. But, if it made his Captain happy, he would fully support it...He thought. He smiled and began playing cards with Chopper.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Oi, Nami?"

Luffy tugged at Nami's sleeve impatiently before she huffed and looked back at him.

"What?"

Luffy looked around anxiously and very noticeably tested his breath. Nami smiled a bit at this.

"What do you want Luffy?"

Luffy smiled at her warmly.

"Do you think we can talk in private for a second?"

Nami raised her eyebrows.

"Sure."

Luffy grabbed her hand and walked her to woman's quarters. He opened the door and stopped for a second.

"Eh?"

Zoro and Sanji were sitting on the bed talking when they both looked up at the two and fell off the bed.

"W-What are YOU two doing here?!"

Nami let go of Luffy's hand and leaned against the door with an evil smirk.

"We're the ones who should be asking that..."

The two men coughed, looked at each other in embarrassment, then rubbed their heads.

"Oh...Uh...We were just talking...about...uh...how much we hate each other's shitty guts!" Sanji replied frantically.

"Really Love Cook...That was the best you could come up with?"

'SHUT UP MARIMO! YOU JUST RUINED IT!"

"I ruined WHAT exactly?"

They both stormed out of the room, leaving Luffy and Nami staring after them oddly. After the confusion died down, Luffy closed the door and sat on the floor with a sigh. Nami sat on the bed.

"So, what did you want to tell me?"

Luffy looked around the room and then focused on the floor.

"So...um...what exactly do 'married' people do?"

Nami smiled hesitantly, then rested her head on her chin.

"Why do you want to know?"

Luffy coughed.

"I dunno...it's just everyone makes such a fuss about it; but nothing awesome has really happened yet...I dunno.."

Nami rolled her eyes.

"So...you're just bored then?"

"No! It's not that! It's just..." He scratched his head. "I don't know..."

Nami chuckled and lifted her head. She then stood up and pointed out the door.

"Well, first off, let's go outside! It's stuffy in here..."

"Aa...It's kind of weird too..."

"...be quiet you idiot..."

They walked back outside and looked around. Everyone was off doing their own things. Luffy motioned toward the Sunny's head. They climbed up to it, and sat on the head. There was just enough room for the two of them. They both stared into the vast blueness for a long time before Nami rested her head on his shoulder and spoke.

"You know...I feel that you know a little more about this stuff then you let on..."

Luffy smiled and put his arm around her.

"I have an acute instinct I guess..."

"I guess..."

Luffy grinned and began to laugh. Nami looked up at him oddly.

"You know...I really didn't understand everything that Chopper told me that day. But...there was one thingy." A thought bubble appeared over his head with an image of the Sunny filled with mini, child-like versions of him. Nami stared at this for about a minute before she gave him a "really" face. Luffy giggled.

"I like children! They're funny!"

"...what's this about children?...you moron..."

"Aw! What's so weird about making a bunch of little tiny Nakama!?"

"...just no..."

Luffy pouted and looked toward the sea again. Nami just thought to herself. God no...get that image out of your mind...Nami shook her head and stayed silent for a moment.

Luffy stopped pouting and looked wistfully at her. To him, she had changed so much. She didn't seem scary anymore; she was really REALLY pretty, and nice...It had been about a month since he first noticed that, and it seemed normal now.

Nami watched him stare at her with that longing expression, then lifted her head, crawled into his lap, and grasped at his collar, pulling his head to hers. Luffy laid back on the Lion's mane nonchalantly and pushed her head gently to his with one hand, deepening the kiss. They locked passionately for a long while, not caring about anything else. After they both were satisfied, Nami leaned back and sat in front of him, their legs intertwined.

"Nami?"

"Eh?"

"This is what married people do, right?"

Nami smiled and tilted his hat away from his face.

"How would I know? I've never been married..."

"Me neither."

"Of course you haven't...moron."

Luffy looked up at Nami's face, their noses nearly touching, and snickered happily. Just as he was about to say something, Nami let go off the hat and hopped off the head.

"Let's go join the others. Dinner will be ready soon."

Luffy gave a saddened expression, then grinned.

"Alright! If you go I go!"

Luffy dropped down next to her with a plop. Nami giggled at the sound effect and started heading toward the kitchen, when and hand suddenly grasped hers and spun her around. Before she realized what was happening, her hand was intertwined with his over his head and she was being gently pushed closer to him with the crook of his arm. Nami was surprised by this; it was very...gentleman like. Her thoughts screamed out "EHHH!? LUFFY A GENTLEMAN?!" but the feeling was incredible. He leaned in very dramatically and gently kissed her for a good five seconds. He slowly brought his head back and lowered her arm. Nami was in shock.

"L-Luffy..."

He smiled softly and whispered in her ear.

"That one I learned from watching Shanks..."

Then he grinned, back in character, and let go, running toward the kitchen. Nami stared at the open air for a long time before regaining her senses.

"Who would've thought?" She whispered to herself. "That moron can actually be hot..."

She wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt and tried to cool her blush before walking into the kitchen.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Most of the food was eaten, and everyone was laughing loudly. Robin kept a close watch on Zoro and Sanji, who were glaring at her with fire eyes.

"This is awesome!" Laughed Luffy. "The food tasted even better than usual today!"

Sanji stopped staring at Robin and grinned at Luffy. Luffy grinned back with a "Hee", which made Nami very happy. It seemed like Luffy and Sanji's relationship grew even closer after he left the crew. She smiled softly to herself and sipped a glass of Sake.

Once everyone scuttled out of the kitchen to do their own things, Nami noticed Luffy headed to the deck with Chopper, talking about something. Luffy was laughing and sparkling stupidly while Chopper kept facepalming and lecturing him. Nami suddenly became curious. What were they talking about?

Finally Chopper left flustered, leaving Luffy by himself. The boy giggled happily at his thoughts and skipped joyously toward Nami.

"Hi!"

Nami raised her eyebrows at his la-la behavior, then waved.

"Hi! What's with that stupid grin of yours?"

Luffy giggled again and tugged his hat over his eyes. Then he peeked back up at her with one eye showing.

"Little Nakama!" He grinned and skipped merrily away whistling. Nami stared after him for a second, before she massaged her temple.

"Are you kidding me?" She sighed to herself.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"OI! DARTBOARD! GET YOUR FREAKING CIGARETTE OUT OF MY FACE!"

"SHUT UP! GET OUT OF THE WAY THEN!"

"Oi...You two are fighting a lot more lately..."

"SHUT UP USOPP!"

Just then, Chopper walked in stressed and plopped on the floor next to Robin. He stared up at her unhappily.

"...Robin why did you put that image in Luffy's mind?"

Robin smiled and looked away.

"I have no idea what your talking about..."

"I just talked to him, and he told me that you mentioned 'Him having children with Nami' Then he got all weird and sparkly and said he thought kids were funny..."

Robin giggled and looked the other direction.

"I've just been having so much fun the past month..."

"Oi...I think there is one more person in this crew who wants to throw you off the deck now..." Chopper muttered.

"GET YOUR SMELLY FAG OUT OF MY FACE!"

"WHAT THE HELL?! IT'S A SHITTY CIGARETTE YOU DUMBASS!"

"I KNOW THAT! I WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU!"

"YOU'RE THE FAG, YOU MARIMO!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A FAG!?"

Robin grinned.

"It's not very nice to use that word, _love-birds..._"

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU WOMAN!"

Chopper sighed and plipped away, trying to calm his innocent mind down.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Night came, and Nami couldn't sleep. Among some leftover feels from the tragedy from a month ago, something new topped it.

_"I like children! They're funny!"_

She sat up in the bed and pinched her nose. Why did she suddenly feel so happy that he said that? It was wrong...and almost scary. Heck, he didn't even know how it happened! She calmed herself and looked down at her pillow. She stared at it for a while before she heard the door open.

"Can I come in?"

Nami looked up and saw a bed-raggled Luffy, dopey and droopy. Nami hesitated for a second.

"Yeah. Come right in."

Luffy nodded in thanks and shuffled sleepily over to the bed, then plopped right next to her. Nami looked at him, half-confused and half-alert, then tucked a strand of her behind her ear.

"What's up?"

"I can't sleep..." He said while yawning. Nami nodded in sympathy.

"Me neither...I have too much on my mind.."

"Same here...And the weird dreams have come back..."

Nami stiffened and remembered when he had first mentioned them back at the island. How anxious he was to stay awake after having them. She swallowed.

"Weird dreams?"

"Aa..." Was all he said. He stared at the floor awkwardly and tussled the hair under his hat. They sat there in silence for a long time.

"Oi...Nami...when I become the Pirate King, can we get kids?" He said quite suddenly. Nami flinched at hearing this.

"Nami?"

"We'll see..."

Luffy seemed satisfied and he grinned.

"OK! What will we name them!?"

"YOU'RE BEING TOO HASTY YOU IDIOT!" She yelled. Luffy lowered his head in fright and Nami felt a pang of guilt.

"...Luffy?"

"How about if we get a girl we name her Nojiko?"

Nami stopped at this and looked thoughtfully into Luffy's shy eyes. She thought for a moment. Where did all this talk about kids come from?! Then, she looked back. Nojiko...He'd name his own kid Nojiko... She smiled.

"Fine...But if it's a boy we'll name him Ace...got that?"

Dead silence from Luffy. Nami cocked her head, worried that she hurt him. Then Luffy rubbed his neck and pouted.

"Aw...If it's a boy I'd name him Rufi..."

Nami sighed in relief, then facepalmed.

"...That's pretty much your name idiot..."

"FINE! Luffy then!"

"No..."

"Ruffy?"

"No..."

"Yfful?"

"...The hell is that?"

"IMAN!"

"...Is that my name backwards?"

"Yeah..."

"...No, just no..."

Luffy laughed and glanced at Nami. There was a small sadness, yet joy in his eyes.

"Just kidding! I like it. Ace it is..."

They stared at each other for a long time before Luffy suddenly laid down on the bed, arms behind his back.

"Can I sleep here tonight?"

"Certainty."

Luffy let out a happy breath and closed his eyes happily. Nami watched him relax for a moment, before he smiled.

"Ah...Your bed is comfy..."

"Thank you..."

"No problem.."

Nami then realized how tired she was and gently lay down beside him. She noticed Luffy beginning to fall asleep. Then he scooted closer to her and nuzzled his head on her shoulder cutely. As she fell asleep, she thought to herself with sad happiness.

_"Nojiko...Thank you..."_

**There you go...Hopefully it was a fitting ending to this fic! I have to say, it was really tough to think up of a good end! **

**I really thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and reviews. This was the first time I've had so many people so into something I created, and it feels amazing to me. ARIGATO! *hugs everyone with tears streaming out my eyes***

**REMEMBER! Epilogue, then a special Outtakes/Bloopers chapter from my dear friend Omega! THEN the fic will TRULY be complete! :P**


	19. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

_Sometime, somewhere, far in the future, there stands a house. It's quite an odd house, as it was crafted in a tree. It was quite a nice house as ones that are crafted in a tree go, very roomy, yet just raggedy enough._

_ Inside the house, an older woman with bright orange hair sat, waiting for the boys to return._

_ "Mama?" Nami looked down devilishly at her daughter; an eight year old with short black hair._

_ "Hmm? What's up Nojiko?"_

_ "Where's daddy and Ace going?"_

_ "They're off adventuring in the forest again...honestly those idiots..."_

_ Nojiko nodded her head in agreement and did a cartwheel._

_ "I wanna go adventuring with Daddy too! ADVENTUREADVENTUREADVENTURE!"_

_ Nami's eyes twinkled in irritation._

_ "You mean you don't want to hang out with your own mother!?"_

_ Nojiko eeped and hid behind a mountain of charting books. The woman laughed and tussled her daughter's hair._

_ "Go right ahead...you'll never have a dull moment with your father..." She said, sticking her tongue out playfully. Nojiko cheered, then the door swung open. A much older looking Luffy and a very skinny thirteen year old boy were both panting with their tongues hanging out their mouths. The strawhat lay crooked on Ace's brown-ish hair. Nami crossed her arms._

_ "Honestly! What did you two get into THIS time?!"_

_ Both Luffy and Ace pointed at each other._

_ "He was a wimpy weakling..."_

_ "He ran away from a giant tiger..."_

_ "YOU'RE BOTH HERE AREN'T YOU?!"_

_ Both of them tried to hide behind each other, and the oversized straw hat fell over Ace's face. Nojiko threw a book at her older brother._

_ "You wimp! I could'a beat that bastard tiger in an instant!"_

_ Ace lifted the hat up and yelled back._

_ "YEAH!? REALLY!? YOU'RE JUST A WIMPY GIRL!"_

_ "...yeah...you tell her Ace..." muttered Luffy to his son. Nami threw a book at her husband._

_ "DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!"_

_ "Aw...you're no fun Nami..."_

_ An irk marked appeared over the woman's head and she dangerously lifted her fist. Both of the kids ran toward Luffy in fright, while he shouted, "OI! Now I'M gonna be killed!"_

_ Then Nami lowered her fist and laughed. Soon everyone was rolling on the floor, having fun._

_ "Couldn't you have just taken out the tiger with your Haki, Luffy?"_

_ "Ace dared me to pretend to be a piece of meat...then the tiger came and I had to keep pretending...I ended up being a piece of running meat..."_

_ "Yeah! Daddy couldn't beat the crap out of it OR use his magic powers!"_

_ Nami and Nojiko looked at each other._

_ "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life..." They both said. Ace got in his sister's face._

_ "Hey! I bet I can take out more giant tigers than YOU...you weak crybaby girl!"_

_ "Says who!? I've got woman guts!"_

_ "Oh yeah!? My punch is as strong as pistol fire! I'll kill ya!"_

_ "PHHHT! You don't have the power to kill me!"_

_ "Fine then! Let's have a spar! Outside! Right now! C'mon you crybaby!"_

_ "You know I've beaten you a total of 97 times..."_

_ "Yeah! And I've beat you 104 times! That means I'm better!"_

_ "COME AT ME BRO!"_

_ Ace and Nojiko gave a tough handshake. The hat fell in Ace's face again, but he adjusted it and they both ran out the door, ready for battle. Nami and Luffy watched this rather admusedly._

_ "Oi...they're quite a lot like us...aren't they?"_

_ "They're both a lot like you, Luffy..."_

_ Luffy gave a huge grin and ran his fingers through his greying hair. _

_ "Well, they're a lot like you too...Ace keeps yabbering on and on about maps and other boring stuff...it's annoying."_

_ "Of course it would be...to you..."_

_ They looked at each other happily. _

_ "You know...I wish we could see the others again..."_

_ "Me too, but we have the kids and you're the most wanted man alive...It's too dangerous to even set FOOT in the sea..."_

_ Luffy stared at the floor with a saddened expression._

_ "What kind of pirates are we if we can't even set foot in the sea?"_

_ Nami flinched at this, then looked at the floor too._

_ "I want to have more adventures...with Ace and Nojiko too. And the others. I've dreamed my whole life about being the Pirate King, and now that I am, I'm not even doing anything. For thirteen years we've just been doing boring stuff."_

_ Luffy looked back at Nami with a outrageous grin._

_ "Plus...Nojiko has been begging me to take her out to sea one day...I don't want to disappoint my daughter."_

_ Nami chuckled and propped her elbow on his shoulder._

_ "Fine. We'll have a crew reunion. Then we can show them all the people we traveled with in all of the stories we told them."_

_ Luffy fist-pumped the air._

_ "YES! I get to see my Nakama again!"_

_ Sudenly, voices were heard outside the door._

_ "C'MON! YOU CHEATED!"_

_ "HAH! The 98__th__ time I've beaten you!"_

_ "No fair Nojiko!"_

_ The two children barged open the door scratched and bruised. Luffy crossed his arms at Ace and looked at him with a disappointed expression._

_ "C'mon Ace...Your uncle would'a never let a wussy girl win!"_

_ "SHE CHEATED DADDY!"_

_ "I DID NOT!"_

_ "Yeah! She did some sorta sneaky thingy! She was like a cat!"_

_ "It's called being a ninja! I'm naturally sneaky..."_

_ "A duel's about raw power!"_

_ "What's raw power if you can just steal their stuff and stab 'em in the back?"_

_ "THAT'S CHEATING!"_

_ Luffy and Nami both laughed and the two angry kids looked at them quizzically. Luffy then crouched in front of them and grinned._

_ "Why don't ya two work together for once? I've had some trouble with a giant bird around here..."_

_ Nojiko and Ace stared at their dad with sparkling eyes._

_ "A-A GIANT BIRD!?"_

_ "Aa! It's called a Snipe! Go try to find it and kick it's ass for me...kay?"_

_ "AA!" They saluted and shoved each other out the door. Luffy laughed hard and plopped in a log chair, wiping his eyes. Nami chuckled at his request._

_ "Life is a marvelous thing, isn't it Luffy?"_

_ Luffy looked up at her with gleeful eyes._

_ "Sometimes..." He fingered the scar on his chest. Nami cocked her head in confusion. Then Luffy looked back up at her grinning._

_ "But right now, yeah, it is..."_

** And there you guys go! Luffy and Nami as (almost) good parents! I hope the epilogue met up to standards! (It was kinda weird to write this as I picture the end of One Piece TOTALLY different...and also I can't really picture them having kids...)**

**Also, before anybody asks, yes, Little Ace has the Straw Hat. Assume that something happened, like Shanks insisted that Luffy keep it for his son or something...Just comfirming that little thingy.**

** Anyway...SEE YOU LATER! We're going to have one more chappie starring my dear friend Omega and a buncha bloopers and outtakes! See ya! *flies away on a magical jetpack***


End file.
